


Lookism In K-Pop

by love_at_first_fanfic



Category: K-pop, 외모지상주의 | Lookism
Genre: Angst?, Bromance, Characters Reading Fanfiction, Dancing, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fan Service (comes with the K-Pop), Fluff, JaeSeok - Freeform, JaeSuk - Freeform, K-pop References, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Trainee, Weekly Idol - Variety Show
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-21 18:44:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 58,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11363376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_at_first_fanfic/pseuds/love_at_first_fanfic
Summary: Wanting to find a way to get money, Hyung Seok ends up as a K-Pop star!Setting is after chapter 74, but no further (so 75 and so on and so forth, never happened).(Hello, Webtoon readers!)(Irregular updates! Will try to update as soon as possible!)If you’re desperate for updates, but I don’t update: Go check out my tumblr @looki-kpop! I’ll be posting some stuff that I couldn’t put into the fanfic with Coral doing the drawing portion! You can request some stuff there, too!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! The setting is after chapter 74, but 75 and further may or may not appear in this fanfic. This will mostly center around their lives of becoming a K-Pop idol (and being one), so I'll try to be as realistic as possible, but still have the Lookism appeal. It'll be in the Narrator's POV unless I state otherwise.

In the cafeteria, every department would talk about the latest trends. Whether it was a brand name or a famous person, it didn't matter; if it was popular, it'll be talked about. So, it was not a surprise when someone mentioned:

"Hey, hey! Have you heard of the new K-Pop group?"

The girls turned to the voice and surrounded her before giving their own guesses.

While the girls were predicting the group, the boys seemed to be on a similar topic as they were talking about girl K-Pop groups.

There were some males who weren't in that group, though.

The Architecture Department only stayed back and observed; either not interested or just didn't want to join their conversation. Vasco, however, was neither as his gaze was around the girls, a tear falling down his eye.

Bum Jae staring at the usual sight, thinking, _Vasco..._

Everyone stayed loud and talkative until the door opened. The people walking through the door made everybody stop their conversations and stare.

Hyung Seok along with his friends, walked inside. The usual silence in the air, they got their lunch before sitting down.

The sound of their trays hitting the table made them snap out of their transfixed stares as they went back to talking, the topic changing from K-Pop to Hyung Seok.

"Hyung Seok is charming as always!"

"How can he look that handsome?"

"Che. Not bad. I'm still better looking."

_Take off your sunglasses!_

Hyung Seok had gotten used to the chatter about him. He's still uncomfortable about it, but other than that, he didn't seem to notice it compared to the past. However, what made him the most uncomfortable was a stare that seemed to be around him a lot. The only reassurance being the fact that something was telling him that the person was someone he knew and liked, so he left it be.

While the students were silently gossiping, a ringtone broke through it, making everybody look at the source. The stares placed on Jang Hyeon, the only boy in the Beauty Department.

It was a BTS song, "Run". Recognizing the song, the girls started commenting on it.

"Is that BTS?"

"Jang Hyeon liked them?"

"It's one of my favorite songs!"

As if nothing happened, he checked the caller. Staring at his phone with an unidentifiable expression, he ended the call.

No one said anything, wondering what happened until Jang Hyeon smiled:

"Unknown number."

Hearing his explanation, no one found it weird as they eventually forgot about it. Going back to their own groups, they started talking again.

They may have forgotten the conversation and moved on, but there was one person who was wondering who they were talking about. Park Hyung Seok.

* * *

 

Hyung Seok's phone was the oldest type you could possibly get. That didn't faze him as he didn't care much about products. The only thing he felt was slight bitterness since not only did he not buy his own phone, but his mother bought him it, despite barely having enough money.

One of his dreams was to get a phone. Now that his dream has come true, he thought that he should give the phone a try. Thinking, he thought of the things he could possibly do with it.

As if it hit him, he stared at his phone.

He started to sweat and tremble as he stalled.

_Wha-what do I do?! This is my first time texting a friend! Do-do I just text them...? Is it that simple?_

Clearly nervous with a tint of excitement, he gulped. With shaking fingers, he slowly pressed down the words. Having second thoughts, he continues to stall.

_I-is this really a good idea? Maybe I shouldn't do this after all..._

In the midst of thinking, his finger slips and presses the enter button. Panicking, he fumbled with the phone, not knowing what to do. Before he could do something, the other side appeared to have read it.

_"Park Hyung Seok?"_

Screaming in his head, he responds with even more nervousness, "Yes. This is Jae Yeol, right?"

The reply didn't take long as Jae Yeol sent a, _"Yes."_

Relieved, he sighs out loud. However, that doesn't seem to lighten his shakiness as he asks the next question, "Would you like to hang out some time?"

Sure, they have met outside of school before, but that was unplanned. Besides, that was when they were walking their pets. This hang out was only going to be between the two of them since Hyung Seok thought they were starting to get closer.

He felt like Jae Yeol would be the perfect person to ask to hang out with first. After all, Jae Yeol gave him his phone number in the bag of clothes he received.

As seconds went by, feeling like minutes, the other person replied, _"Sure."_

Hyung Seok couldn't believe the amount of happiness that surged through him at that instant.

Fumbling with the phone for a different reason, he grinned.

They texted back and forth. Both clearly excited, but neither knowing. As they came up with the date, Hyung Seok nodded despite Jae Yeol not being able to see him, "Meet you next week?"

_"Yes."_

* * *

 

At the convenience store, small Hyung Seok and Duk Hwa were chatting.

Time going by, Hyung Seok started to lose stuff to talk about. Getting nervous, he thought about what he could say as it started to get quiet.

As if remembering something, Hyung Seok asked, "Who's BTS?"

Duk Hwa seems surprised, but explains anyway.

"They're a K-Pop group consisting of seven males. They've been quite popular lately."

Hyung Seok nodded at the explanation before Duk Hwa asked, "Why the sudden question?"

Panicking, he makes an excuse right off the bat, "Because the other Hyung Seok was curious."

Duk Hwa perked up at that.

"Hyung Seok wants to become a K-Pop idol?"

Still panicky, he nods.

That seems to make Duk Hwa excited, "Really?"

Not letting him answer, Duk Hwa hands him a phone number:

"Tell Hyung Seok to contact me if he wants to know more about K-Pop."

He takes it. Surprised, yet sad that he lied to his friend.

Duk Hwa looks at the time before standing up and patting nonexistent dust off his lap.

"It's time for me to go."

Hyung Seok stands up too, "Bye. I'll make sure I give him the information."

Duk Hwa nods before he waves and leaves.

* * *

 

**_I went on with work without realizing that my lie would change my life forever._ **


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyung Seok isn't the only one considering on becoming an idol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, again! Slight warning: There's one uncensored curse word here. <\-- *gasp*

Meeting with Duk Hwa, big Hyung Seok didn’t know what to expect.

That was soon going to be answered as he grabbed his chair. Right when he sat down, Duk Hwa, excited, already started telling him plenty of K-Pop agencies that would be good for him.

Hyung Seok is overwhelmed by the suggestions. Not knowing what to say, he goes with the thing that first pops up in his mind, “Which company should I pick?”

Pausing for a second, Duk Hwa hummed, “Do you want to go solo or join a group?”

Pondering for a few seconds, Hyung Seok decided, “Um. I’m not sure… Bo-both?”

Duk Hwa nods before talking to himself, “So, a company that has both successful solos and groups.”

Thinking more about it, he comes to a conclusion, “That would be DY Agency. They mostly do solos, but they have one group that is very successful. They are also a guaranteed place for getting famous. Probably a lot of money too.”

Hearing the mention of money, Hyung Seok gulps, “K-Pop idols get a lot of money?”

Duk Hwa nodded, “From my information, they do. Only the most famous ones do, though.”

He hesitates: _Maybe this is the job I should take! I was scouted before, so it might work!_

Before he could state his answer, he remembers what the DY Agency is. The agency that rejected Duk Hwa. Memories of the CEO giving him the card instead of the expecting Duk Hwa, flowed through his mind.

Clamping his mouth shut, he looks down, feeling regretful before thinking through it again.

Duk Hwa seems to understand the expression he was showing as he said, “It’s fine.”

Now staring at Duk Hwa, Hyung Seok waits for him to continue.

Duk Hwa smiles, trying to reassure him, “I’m already over it. Besides! I’m now a famous Paprika star because of them!”

Not completely fine with the answer, he nods anyways.

Sensing some disbelief, Duk Hwa continues, “Don’t let that stop you from doing it. It’s nothing. Got it?”

Hearing the firm tone, he was forced to think that Duk Hwa really didn’t mind if he joined the agency that rejected him. Giving him a nod of understanding, Duk Hwa continues:

“Good. Now, come here tomorrow and the following days for practice.”

“Practice?”

Duk Hwa nods, “Of course. What else would you do? You need to practice a lot if you want to become a K-Pop trainee.”

“Trainee?”

“You have to be a trainee before you become an idol. Once you become a trainee, that doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to debut. You’d have to do a lot more practicing and get picked if you want to become an idol,” raising an eyebrow, he continued, “Didn’t you know that?”

Gaping, Hyung Seok thought, _I didn’t know that!_

* * *

 

Jin Sung walks through the streets, not having a set destination. Wondering where he could go, he considers going to the convenience store.

As he walks, passing by buildings, one building catches his eyes.

_DY Agency._

Recognizing the building as a K-Pop agency, he stops. He doesn’t know why he stopped, but it felt like something was pulling him down on the spot.

He was about to try and leave again, but couldn’t as he had a flashback to the time he went to the movie theaters with Mi Jin.

* * *

 

_“He was really polite,” jab goes the first arrow, “cool,” thrust goes the second one, “and kind!” stab goes the third, “Will there be a guy like that in real life…?”_

_Jin Sung got pierced with the fourth arrow while smiling and crossing his arms._

_As if thinking about it, she claps her hands, “Oh! There are!”_

_Jin Sung perks up at that. Having false hope, he waits for a response like, “You’re my ideal type, Jin Sung!”_

_Only to be rewarded with her saying, “There are plenty of male K-Pop idols that fit that description!”_

_Jin Sung was impaled with another arrow, feeling upset that she mentioned some random guys instead of her childhood friend to be her type._

_That day, Jin Sung swore he would become better than those K-Pop idols, one way or another._

* * *

 

Coming back to reality, he didn’t realize someone sneaking up on him.

The man tapped his shoulder, making Jin Sung jump and put on a defensive pose.

“Woah there.”

Putting his defensive pose away, he glares, “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to scout you since you seemed like you wanted to audition.” Giving a slight pause, he continued, “Unless I was wrong?”

Taken aback at the man’s assumption, he stared at the man.

About to say that he was wrong, he opened his mouth before an image of Mi Jin’s smile, talking about her ideal type, appeared in his mind.

_There are plenty of male K-Pop idols that fit that description! …plenty of male K-Pop idols! …male K-Pop idols! …K-Pop idol!_

_…You should be a K-Pop idol!_

He closed his mouth. Not being able to say it, Jin Sung considered the idea.

_Should I become a K-Pop idol? Mi Jin will like me if I become one. They probably pay a lot too…_

The scouter patiently waits as he ponders.

After plenty of thinking and rubbing his chin, he returned his stare on the man.

Determined, Jin Sung smirked, “How much are willing to pay me?”

* * *

 

At their hideout, Vasco and his Burn Knuckle crew hung out.

They were all doing their own thing. All having their own conversation, chilling. All peaceful and quiet. Too bad that it was short lived.

With no ill-intention, a member mentioned the K-Pop topic from school.

Everybody shut up, all glaring at the one who said it. Noticing what was going on, he covered his mouth, regretting that he mentioned the topic. The word “K-Pop” had been banned ever since the girls in the cafeteria started fangirling over them. The reason being the fact that Vasco would cry every time he saw the girls mentioning K-Pop, even if it was only a word or two.

They all glanced at Vasco, only to see him cry from one eye.

Sweatdropping, Bum Jae tried to consult him, “It’s okay, Vasco! You’re much cooler than them!”

Pouting, Vasco turns towards Bum Jae, “Really?”

Bum Jae smiles, “Of course!”

Vasco smiles before turning towards the others, “Do you really think so?”

_Why are you turning to us?!_

Sweating, they responded, “Y-yeah.”

Believing them, Vasco turns back to Bum Jae, “Do you think I can become a K-Pop idol?”

“If you wanted, yes!”

Vasco is so happy that he gleams, “I’ll become a K-Pop idol.”

Bum Jae, at this point, wasn’t fully functioning as his priority was to make Vasco happy:

“I’ll support you all the way!”

Knowing what he said, Bum Jae blinked, wondering how he could say something so reckless.

Before he could take it back, Vasco was gleaming, making it impossible to take it back.

“Bum Jae…” Vasco says, incredibly happy.

The members stared at Bum Jae with incredulity while Bum Jae could only silently curse under his breath.

_Shit._

* * *

 

Jang Hyeon pants and sweats, hands on his knees.

The other people around him were too.

Some were on the ground while the rest were standing. Everyone wiped off their sweat, clearly exhausted.

Time went by before someone shouted, “Break times over!”

Their pants filled the room as someone pressed the play button. The ones sitting, stood up, ready to continue the practice. Getting into positions, they danced. The dancing wasn’t hard, but they were _tiring_. They felt like dying as their muscles begged them to stop, but they knew that they couldn’t possibly stop or else they wouldn’t debut. Keeping that in mind, they continued to dance.

Jang Hyeon was faring well, at least better than half of the guys there. He was the best dancer there, after all. Not a surprise as he was one of the more experienced trainees there, just waiting for his chance to debut. The other trainees knew that too, they’re just waiting for the CEO’s news.

Finishing the dance, Jang Hyeon wiped off his sweat as he drank from his water bottle.

The sound of breathing filled the air as they waited for the dance leader to excuse them.

The dance leader glanced at the time before dismissing them.

Jang Hyeon stood up and got his stuff.

“Yo, Jang Hyeon!” a black haired, handsome face waved his hand.

Jang Hyeon walked over to him, greeting back, “Tae Jun.”

Tae Jun wrapped his arm around his shoulder, “The practice was exhausting, huh?”

Jang Hyeon nodded, “Not any different than usual.”

He smiled at his response, “I thought you were depressed, but seeing you now makes me think that it was all in my head.”

Jang Hyeon tilted his head, “I was depressed?”

Seeing him clueless, he just shook his head, “Never mind.” Looking at the time, he took his arm off his shoulder and waved, “See you next dance practice!”

Jang Hyeon waved back, watching him go. Walking towards the door himself, he glanced at the time. Sighing, he got ready to leave. Before he could, he got stopped by the leader.

“You’ve been getting better, Jang Hyeon.”

Jang Hyeon smiles, “Thank you. I try my best.”

The leader nods, “I bet you do.”

Silence filled the air, making Jang Hyeon glance at the time again. Before he could say his goodbye, the leader leaned closer to Jang Hyeon’s ear.

“The CEO called for you.”

Jang Hyeon blinks before he nods. Getting ready to dismiss himself, the leader says, “Good luck.”

With that, Jang Hyeon leaves for the office.

Not knowing what to expect.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The "hanging out between bros" has appeared.

Jang Hyeon arrived at the office. Looking left and right, he knocked on the door.

“Come in.” A deep voice answered through the door.

Turning the door knob, he opened it before he smiled:

“You called?”

The CEO nods, gesturing for him to walk closer. Jang Hyeon complies, doing exactly that.

His sunglasses shone before he stated, “Your contract is going to end soon.”

Jang Hyeon, already knowing that, looked down, “I know.”

The CEO hums, “Do you want to renew it?”

He put his eyes back on the man and answered with no hesitation, “No.”

The man blinked, not expecting his response, “What? Why not?”

His mouth opened to voice an excuse.

Sensing it, the man interrupted him before he could say anything; suggesting, “-There’s going to be a debut soon.”

That caught Jang Hyeon’s attention, making his ears twitch and eyes widen.

“What?”

The CEO went on, “There’s going to be an audition in a month and a half. With your skills, I bet you’ll get in,” staring at Jang Hyeon with knowing eyes, he smiled, “The audition is for a group.”

Jang Hyeon almost slammed his desk out of surprise, but held back, “A group?”

The CEO nodded, lacing his fingers together before placing it on his desk.

Jang Hyeon took that as a sign to think about his decision.

Looking to the side, he furrowed his eyebrows in thought.

Facing the man again, he asked, “Don’t you usually produce solos? Why the sudden group?”

The scarred man replied, “Usually. I thought that it was about time I produced a group. It has been twelve years since one debuted from my agency, after all. Besides, I still make you guys have dance practice even though you guys want to debut solo.” As if giving a hint, his lips twitched upwards, “Don’t you find that weird?”

Noticing the twitch, Jang Hyeon blinked before realizing what that meant.

Beaming, he couldn’t believe his ears. He hasn’t heard such great news since he got accepted as a trainee. This was ten times better than the trainee news, though.

Jang Hyeon, knowing to show manners, bowed, “Thank you. I won’t let this opportunity pass.”

The CEO brushed his gratitude off before making a, “you’re excused,” sweep of his hand.

Knowing what that meant, he bowed again before leaving the room.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, with Jae Yeol.

Jae Yeol sat in a Café, chin in hand while his elbow rested on the table. Minutes passing before he glanced at his watch, wondering where Hyung Seok is.

Waiting a little longer, he hears a voice calling out his name:

“Jae Yeol!”

Before turning towards the voice, he already knew who it was.

Looking at the handsome, breathtaking man, Jae Yeol smiles, admiring his choice of clothing. He’s proud that Hyung Seok’s clothing has gotten better without him having to tell him what to wear, but in the back of his head, he feels slightly sad that he can’t choose for him anymore.

Hyung Seok wore a red, long sleeved shirt, the collar and arm cuff being blue. To complement his shirt, he wore blue pants and red shoes; which worked, making the outfit even more beautiful.

“Sorry for being late, Jae Yeol!” taking a seat, he smiled apologetically, “I had a modeling job before this.”

Jae Yeol nods, completely understanding his reason.

While Hyung Seok took his seat, Jae Yeol started to hear the murmurings of the other customers.

“Who’s that?”

“He’s hot.”

“Who’s that other guy he’s with?”

“Doesn’t he give off the mysterious vibe?”

“He does! He does!”

“Are they on a date?”

That made Jae Yeol’s head fall off his hand.

Hyung Seok blinked, “Are you okay?”

Looking at Hyung Seok, he sent off what he wanted to say:

“Your head just slipped?” Jae Yeol nodded, “Nothing else?” He nodded again.

Hyung Seok brushed it off, not finding it weird.

“How’re the puppies?”

“They’re doing fine?” Nod. “Your butler is taking care of them?” Jae Yeol nodded again.

Hyung Seok hummed before blinking, “You have a butler?”

Jae Yeol froze. Thinking of an excuse, Hyung Seok voiced it out, “He’s your family’s?”

Hyung Seok accepts the answer, and leaves it be, despite his curiosity.

Silence filled the air. Hyung Seok started sweating.

_I don’t know what to say…! Was it always this hard to talk with Jae Yeol?_

Hyung Seok was worrying so much that his lips started to curl. Jae Yeol seemed to notice as he started worrying as well, wondering what he could do to make Hyung Seok worry less.

While those two dorks were worrying, a person was observing them the whole time.

Walking towards the boys, he interrupted their moment, smiling, “Hello. May I have a word with you two?”

The two males turned towards the man; still not functioning, they didn’t know what he said. Slowly starting to understand what he said, Hyung Seok nodded his head; not knowing what to do.

Jae Yeol was on alarm, watching him to make sure he didn’t try to do anything funny.

The man had swept black hair, glasses, narrowed slanted eyes, and a sly smile on. No wonder Jae Yeol was cautious, the man seemed suspicious and untrustworthy at first glance. Not a very good first impression if Jae Yeol had a say in it.

The man took out two cards before handing it to the boys.

“I’m a scouter from DY agency and I wanted to know if you were interested in joining.”

Hyung Seok blinked, going to deny the offer, but stopped as he remembered the conversation with Duk Hwa. Contemplating on what to say, he remained silent.

Taking the silence as a yes, the scouter smiled, “There’s going to be an audition in a month and a half for a K-Pop group. I hope you join.”

Hyung Seok nodded, not knowing what else to do.

Jae Yeol watched, not exactly understanding the situation enough to join in.

The scouter continued talking to Hyung Seok before turning towards Jae Yeol:

“That goes for you too, blondie.”

Jae Yeol blinked, surprised that he was being scouted too. After all, people usually ignore or forget he’s there in the first place.

Looking at the clock, the man excused himself, “I’ve best get going,” his smirk grew, “I’ll be anticipating your appearance in the audition.”

As he left, it became silent. Actually, scratch that – Jae Yeol and Hyung Seok were quiet while the girls started murmuring about their conversation.

Ignoring them, Jae Yeol stared at Hyung Seok with curiosity while somehow conveying his question.

“Am I auditioning?” Hyung Seok blinked, considering the question.

Thinking, Hyung Seok bit his lip.

_Am I?_

Minutes passed before he decided to answer, “Y-yeah. I am.”

Jae Yeol raised his eyebrows up, surprised that he said yes. He didn’t know what answer he was expecting, but he sure didn’t expect that one.

Feeling nervous and slightly awkward, Hyung Seok asked Jae Yeol, “Are you?”

Jae Yeol didn’t hesitate as he nodded. If Hyung Seok was auditioning, he might as well do too.

Hyung Seok smiled widely with a hint of a blush on his cheeks, making Jae Yeol blink, surprised.

Hyung Seok couldn’t understand why he felt glad and relieved with his response, but he knew he would’ve reacted differently if he had said no.

* * *

 

Jae Yeol laid in his living room, thinking back at the conversation he had with Hyung Seok.

He wondered why Hyung Seok would audition, but didn’t question it as he probably just wanted to try it out or something. Besides, Jae Yeol had other worries.

He thought over the consequences of auditioning as he didn’t talk or want to join all that much. Wondering how he could get picked – assuming that Hyung Seok would – he put the back of his hand over his forehead.

However, his worries left him as he remembered Hyung Seok’s gleaming smile when he said he would audition too.

Reliving the feeling he felt when he saw that smile, Jae Yeol couldn’t hold it back this time as the edges of his lips lifted up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry that the date wasn't really a date! It wasn't supposed to be a date, but a "hanging out between bros". When it's an actual date, it'll be more eventful. Promise (this is teens and up, so don't expect much). Also, would you guys be okay if Jae Yeol is able to sing, but won't talk? <\-- that's the only way I could add him in the idol business.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More planning for the audition.

Bum Jae and Vasco stared at the computer screen.

"Auditions to become a potential K-Pop Idol! Days are..."

Bum Jae doesn't know why he's doing this, but he ended up helping Vasco look for auditions to become an idol. He didn't think he was that serious when he said that he'll become one, but looks like he was wrong.

Looking through countless sites, they couldn't seem to find the right one. After looking through some more, Bum Jae started to care less as he decides that the last site is the agency he's choosing.

Closing his eyes, he played with the scroll of his mouse before clicking on a website. Waiting for the site to load, he realizes that he made a mistake.

The company he chose was DY agency. Sure, it wasn't JYP, SM, or YG Entertainment, but it was still a fairly famous K-Pop company that is hard to get into.

Cursing in his mind, Bum Jae glances at Vasco to say something, only to end up closing his mouth.

Vasco was sparkling. Bum Jae didn't notice he was sparkling this whole time, so it was easy to get out of the previous websites, but now that he has seen it, he has no choice but to go along with him.

Gulping, he mentally prepares himself. Getting ready to regret his idea, he closes his eyes, "Want to audition for DY agency?"

Vasco gleams as he nods.

He sighs, feeling the doom of the soon-to-happen events.

The audition.

Don't get him wrong, Vasco is good and all, but he never tried any sort of musical related thing until now. So, you can understand the worry Bum Jae feels when he thinks of the possible moment of him getting rejected.

Vasco, snapping out of his sparkling self; notices his sigh, "What's wrong, Bum Jae?"

He curses mentally for making another mistake, "Nothing, Vasco!"

Vasco doesn't seem to believe him. Wondering why Bum Jae was acting like that, he comes up with an idea.

Putting his fist down on his other hand, he says, "I got it," Bum Jae sweats, thinking that he was caught, "You want to audition with me."

Bum Jae blinked.

_What?_

Smiling, Vasco puts his hands on his shoulders, "Why didn't you say so?"

_Eh?_

* * *

 

Duk Hwa greets big Hyung Seok as he appears at his doorstep.

Leading him to his room, Duk Hwa waits until Hyung Seok sits down.

Getting seated down, Hyung Seok wonders if he's supposed to say anything as the room was silent.

Before he could attempt a conversation, Duk Hwa beat him to it.

Both knowing why they were there, he wasted no time in the introduction and went right to the information. He starts off from where they left off, explaining more in depth about the K-Pop industry and answering most asked questions.

Hyung Seok blinks, not expecting him to explain in such detail.

Letting him process the information, the smaller out of the two, continues, "You wanted to try auditioning for both solo and a group, right?"

Hyung Seok was going to nod before he remembered the scouter. His head pausing in an awkward position, he says:

"Um, actually. I-I wanted to try out for a group..."

The other blinks, "They don't really debut groups, but if you want, I'll help."

Hyung Seok, looking him in the eye, starts to explain his reason, "A scouter from DY agency scouted me. He said there was going to be an audition for a group soon."

The other perks up, "Really?"

He nods.

Duk Hwa smiles, clearly happy with the news, "Great. This makes my job easier."

* * *

 

Duk Hwa pulled out a small chart, "If you want to be a singer, you don't have to dance, but it's preferred."

With that in mind, he goes online and searches up dance moves.

"Since it's preferred, you're going to practice these dance moves. You'll have to freestyle, so make sure you remember them."

Putting on the music, he stated, "The company lets you provide your own music, so don't worry. Also, I'll help you with your dancing choreography."

Before realizing it, their meet-up ended up being practice for the audition.

Watching the video, Hyung Seok tried his best to memorize the moves. Taking the images in his head, he stares attentively at the screen. Once the video ended, Duk Hwa asked him if he was ready before playing the music; wanting him to reenact the dance moves.

Nervous, Hyung Seok stands up, shaking.

_This is my first-time dancing in front of someone! What if I do badly?_

Sensing his nervousness, Duk Hwa tries to calm him down, "Don't worry if you do badly. This is your first-time dancing in front of someone, right? Just try to dance what you remember and we'll work from there."

Nodding, he breathes in and out, calming himself down. Thinking through the dance moves, he starts nodding his head to the beat. Finding his chance to join in, he starts moving.

Starting with a stretch of his foot, he smoothly glides to the left. Moving his right arm to the mid-section of his stomach, he pulls it in midair, making his arm go right.

The song changed. He was confused and even panicked for a second, but nonetheless, continued to dance.

Placing his hand on his belt, he jumped when the music sped up. Moving his legs outward, he curves one leg left and right while having a slight skip in it, and does that with his other leg; continuing to do that before moving to the next dance move.

Duk Hwa is transfixed, wondering how he learned so fast.

_He really is talented..._

After dancing a little longer and fixing some minor mistakes, Duk Hwa crosses out a word on the small chart before clapping his hands once.

"Time to sing while dancing."

The slightly tired teenager blinks, clearly confused.

Understanding him being confused, he continued, "If you want to become an idol, you're going to have to dance and sing at the same time."

Hyung Seok blinks in confusion before he nods to show that he's listening.

* * *

 

Duk Hwa claps his hands.

"Break time."

Hyung Seok dropped down on the ground. He hasn't been this tired since he started exercising in his other body. He never knew singing and dancing could be this hard. The fact that Duk Hwa didn't let him stop until he sang the right notes _and_ the right dance moves, didn't help.

"Since you're already practicing your singing while dancing, and taking a break. I will explain how the songs work for the audition."

"The audition will have three songs of your choice. Depending on whether they like your singing or not, they won't listen to your other songs."

Hyung Seok nodded, still tired from the practice.

Blinking, Duk Hwa stopped explaining for a second, wondering what he was forgetting.

"Ah!"

The loud sound made Hyung Seok jump. Glancing up at his friend, he tilted his head.

"I know what I forgot," he exclaimed as he ran out of his room to get something.

On the ground, he patiently waits, still not knowing what's happening.

Coming back into the room, Duk Hwa hands him a water bottle.

"You have to be hydrated at all times. I'm sorry that I didn't give that to you earlier."

Hyung Seok smiles, waving it off, "It's fine."

Grabbing the water bottle, he opens it before drinking the soothing drink down his throat. That's exactly what he needed at the moment.

Letting him take a short break, Duk Hwa continues.

Giving him tips and telling him what to do, he lets Hyung Seok memorize the information. Looking around, he stands up to sit by his computer. He goes online and searches up DY agency before finding the application. Already knowing what Hyung Seok was auditioning for, he began to fill it out; only asking Hyung Seok questions on the ones he didn't know.

Finishing it up, he smiles, "Done!"

Hyung Seok was too tired to voice a response, only giving him a small groan.

Getting rid of the tiredness, he sat up.

"What?"

Duk Hwa faced him, "Oh, don't worry. I already filled out your application."

Hyung Seok blinked a few times before remembering why he was practicing in the first place. He was going to audition.

He paled at the idea: _I forgot that I still have to audition! What if I mess up? What if I don't get in?!_

Hyung Seok has performed before an audience before, but that was for a school festival. This was different, he's going to sing and perform in front of _professionals_. He could somehow keep his cool during the last performance, but that was only because he was performing with Duk Hwa. This time, he's going to audition _by himself_.

Knowing that a way to get rid of his nervousness was to think of other stuff. He tries to think on the positive side of things. Trying to find it, he ends up remembering that Jae Yeol will audition too. Recalling that, his tense shoulders started to relax as his face started to regain color. Feeling better, he smiled:

_At least I won't be alone._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry if you don't like the slow pace! I like taking my time with scenes, so you most likely won't see the audition part until after a few chapters. If I'm going too slow, please tell me. I'll consider going at a faster pace.
> 
> The dance scene was my first attempt, so it might've not been that good... Oh well. If you guys don't want me to go into detail with the dancing, then please say so! Writing out the dance scenes are somewhat draining, for some reason. I don't mind doing it, though! If you guys want more descriptive dance scenes in the future, please give me suggestions (like dance videos or a certain group I should watch)! I need a reference if I'm going to write them out (I'm not a dancer...).


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More practice. Sorry, I go at a very slow pace.

Jin Sung sat in his room, staring at an agency card.

* * *

 

_Determined, Jin Sung smirked, "How much are willing to pay me?"_

_The man smirked back, "Sadly, I can't give you the price." Jin Sung was about to walk away right there, "However, you can bargain with the CEO..."_

_Looking at the man, his smirk grew, "Where do I start?"_

_The scout rummaged through his pocket before revealing a card._

_Handing it to him, he replied, "Practice."_

_The teenager's eyebrows rose, "What?"_

_Smiling, the man continued, not answering his question, "I'll see you at the audition."_

* * *

 

Staring at the card, he thought of the possibilities of becoming an idol.

* * *

 

_A man in a suit lead him to a limousine, "This way, Sir. Your limousine awaits you."_

_Mi Jin had love hearts in her eyes, admiring Jin Sung's awesome form._

_He struck a pose, smiling sparklingly. "Yo, Mi Jin."_

_Awestruck, she replies, "Oh, Jin Sung! You're so polite, cool, and kind! You're exactly my ideal type!"_

* * *

 

Jin Sung smiles at his imagination – which was _not_ overexaggerated – before standing up and getting ready to practice.

Looking up the requirements, Jin Sung already knew what he had to practice.

So, with that in mind, he looked up some karaoke songs. Choosing one of his favorite songs, he listened to the intro. Getting ready, he let out his vocal cords.

Singing, he knew he was doing _great_ , but his throat and gut feeling didn't seem to agree all that much.

Wondering why he was feeling like that, he rubbed his chin.

Humming, he whispered, "I'm awesome, but there's something wrong."

Continuing to hum, he eventually considered the idea of rapping.

Knowing he would be good either way, he searched up some rapping songs.

Playing a song, he waited until it was time to rap. Once his cue showed up, he opened his mouth, and began.

Hearing himself, his eyes widened.

He noticed how much nicer it felt compared to singing.

Enjoying the last few moments of the song, he finished, getting his breath even again. Finishing that, he stared at his screen.

Blinking and surprised, he wondered what happened.

When he was singing, he struggled to hit the notes – not like he knew – but with rapping, he felt free. He couldn't describe the feeling.

Despite not understanding a whole lot, he knew one thing.

He should stick with rapping.

* * *

 

His breath uneven, chest heaving up and down, and throat dry, he continued to dance.

Jang Hyeon never practiced so hard in his life. He always gives his all when practicing, but this time was different; _special_. Knowing why he was practicing this hard, made it even harder to go easy on himself.

When it was time to take a break, he sat on the ground, trying to regain his breath. The exhaustion effected his attention span as he couldn't seem to focus on anything.

He was so out of it that he couldn't even hear his friend talking to him.

"..yeon. Hyeon...ng Hyeon... JANG HYEON!"

The shout brought him back to reality.

"Huh?" Glancing around, he almost didn't know where he was for a second.

Turning his head up, he noticed Tae Jun's worried face.

"Oh. Hey, Tae Jun. What's up?"

Sighing in relief, Tae Jun almost let him off before remembering why he sighed in relief in the first place.

"Don't 'what's up' me. Are you okay? I was trying to get your attention for a while now..."

Jang Hyeon smiled, trying to calm him down, "It's nothing. I just practiced too hard."

Before Tae Jun could continue nagging, he urged on, "It's really nothing. If it was something, I would tell you, Tae Jun."

Hearing that, the black-haired boy frowned, "If you say so..."

Jang Hyeon was going to continue talking, but got stopped by the dance leader, shouting, "What are you doing? The break ended five seconds ago!"

Knowing how scary the leader could get, Tae Jun let out a hand for his pink-haired friend to take. Taking the offered hand, he stood up.

The dance leader left them alone, knowing he only needed to warn them once to get them to dance again.

"Well, if there's something, you know you can tell me." Tae Jun turned his head, a slight blush on his face.

Smiling, Jang Hyeon replied, "Of course."

After practice, everybody was going to leave, like usual. However, they lost their chance as the dance leader stepped in their way.

"Where do you think you're going?"

They blinked, wondering why he was asking such an obvious question. Glancing at each other, they wondered what the right answer was.

They soon understood why he stopped them when the CEO appeared at the entrance of the door.

With no hesitation, they bowed, "Good morning, CEO."

He nodded before walking inside of the practice room.

Everyone wondered what was happening as they unintentionally held their breath. The room deadly silent.

Leaving anticipation, he finally said what he came there for.

"There's an audition in a month and a half."

That got their attention. They all stood straighter, wondering if they can appeal to the CEO.

Not letting anyone ask a question, the scarred man continued, "It's for a group."

* * *

 

Jae Yeol stood in front of his computer screen. Watching the dance moves of the idols, he wondered if he could copy their dance moves.

Jae Yeol had only taken classical dance lessons before, so he didn't know if he could pull off K-Pop dancing; a somewhat broad category.

After thinking on how the audition is going to work out, he did some research on K-Pop. During his study, he decided that he can be the main dancer and be the sub vocal to avoid revealing his voice too much. Finding that acceptable, he figured that he should practice dancing the most if he wanted to be the main dancer.

Re-watching the videos, he observed their every move, calculating how they did that and how he would do it.

Jae Yeol was pretty smart. He didn't have to study to get a good grade. He could actually get a hundred percent if he wanted, but he doesn't. With his intelligence, he can figure out how things are done and how he'll be able to get it done. That goes for dancing too.

Finishing his observing, Jae Yeol played each video again, but this time, he was dancing along with it.

Moving, he starts copying what shows on TV, not necessarily looking at the screen.

After completing one video, he goes on the next one. When he finishes his videos, he replays them, perfecting his dancing with each K-Pop dance style it shows.

The videos consisted one of the following: feminine, manly, gentleman, boyish, sexy, etc.

He didn't know what style his group will have, so he decided to dance every style he could possibly do. Even the female ones since he learned that K-Pop groups have been dancing other group's dances, whether it was the same gender of their group or not.

He kept dancing until he couldn't feel his legs anymore; meaning, he danced for hours, nonstop.

Grabbing a drink, he finally took a break. Sitting on the ground, he drank his water.

Relaxing for a little while, he let the TV continue playing the videos, further observing the dance moves.

Before he could stand up, his puppies started to pile over him; wondering what he's doing on the ground.

He let the puppies lie on him, licking his face.

Smiling, he let them do whatever they wanted since he hasn't been hanging out with them lately.

After a few more minutes of that, he gently took them off his body; wanting to change out of his sweaty clothes.

Giving his butler a greeting of some sorts, he began his way to his room; wondering what Hyung Seok was doing at the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if you wanted to see some descriptive dancing! I decided that I'll only do that when they learn a dance move, dance in a variety show, or dance for a concert! Which means, you're going to have to wait until they audition to see some descriptive dancing (unless I change my mind). 
> 
> Also, if you guys have any ideas you'd like to give me for the upcoming chapters, please tell!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still practicing... Sorry?

On a bright, sunny day, small Hyung Seok ran with his dog, Inu. Not only would that help him lose weight, but it'll also help with walking the dog, so it was basically a win, win situation.

It also helped that Inu somehow knew what his intentions for jogging was as she wouldn't let him stop jogging when only two minutes passed. She knew that he had to go slow, so at least she showed him a little mercy.

After jogging for a few minutes, Hyung Seok caught the sight of Vasco.

Smiling, the bespectacled boy ran a little faster to catch up with Vasco's relatively slow pace.

Catching up, he greeted him.

Vasco's eyes blinked before he looked at his side.

"Oh, small Hyung Seok..." trailing off, Vasco caught sight of Inu.

Vasco immediately bended down. Smiling and blushing, he waited for the dog to come closer to him.

"Hello!"

Inu knew what to do as she walked closer to the tattooed man, letting him pet her.

"No... no... bark bark!"

Inu didn't know what he was trying to do, but barked anyway.

After petting her and having a one-sided conversation for a little longer, Vasco reluctantly stood up.

"Where are you headed, Hyung Seok?"

The boy, with his smile never leaving his face, responded, "Nowhere in particular. Just out for a jog."

Vasco hummed, resuming his jogging session, but with his small companion this time.

Jogging in relaxing silence, Vasco seemed to remember something as he turned towards the other, "Do you happen to know anyone who can rap?"

The boy immediately thought of Duk Hwa before nodding.

"Yeah. Remember Duk Hwa?"

His face lit up, knowing who he was, "Pyun Duk Hwa raps?"

The smaller nodded, "He's a Paprika star known for rapping."

Vasco nodded. Seemingly thinking of something, he continued, "Do you think he'll teach me and Bum Jae to rap?"

Hyung Seok raised his eyebrows, wondering where that came from before answering, "I don't think he'd mind. I can talk with him if you want."

Vasco shook his head, "Thanks, but I'll ask Pyun Duk Hwa myself. Wouldn't want to trouble you."

Blinking, Hyung Seok nodded.

* * *

 

Duk Hwa stands in front of two of the people he never thought he would ever talk to.

Bum Jae and Vasco.

He knows that Vasco protects the weak, but he doesn't really know much about his companion.

Bum Jae, to him, seemed like a nice guy. He just isn't sure if Bum Jae can say the same about him.

Ever since Bum Jae entered his house, he had a disinterested face on the whole time unless Vasco was looking at him.

It was like he was cautious around him.

At the moment, Vasco was rapping a song Duk Hwa chose. Surprisingly, he was doing well for an inexperienced rapper. He fumbled a bit with a few words, but other that, he was a natural.

After telling the smiling boy some tips and exercises, Bum Jae gave his friend compliments to which Vasco gleamed at.

Once Bum Jae was done encouraging his friend, Duk Hwa turned towards him.

Noticing his stare, he seemed to understand that it was his turn to rap. Understanding as well, Vasco was anticipating hearing his friend rap for the first time.

The big-eared male seemed to not know what to do when the attention was on him. It was like he didn't plan for this moment, as if he didn't really have any interest in becoming an idol and just tagged along; that was just a thought, though.

He sighed. He rapped the same song Vasco did, thinking that he should just get it over with.

Duk Hwa blinked.

He was good. Bum Jae didn't seem as enthusiastic as Vasco was, but his rapping sounded just as good, but maybe a little better as he didn't mess up any words.

Duk Hwa smiled.

He knew that it was going to be fun teaching them.

* * *

 

Small Hyung Seok sat behind the counter of the convenience store. Thinking of all the things he can do to help with his training, he remembered that he could practice in his original body.

Smiling for remembering such an important fact, he began dancing and singing.

Having a fun time, it was soon cut short as the entrance opened.

Stopping abruptly, he blushed from getting caught as he looked at the person that walked in.

It was the pretty lady. Soo Jeong.

He hasn't seen her visit the store for a long time. He even wondered if she was going to show up again.

Glancing at her, he continued to blush.

She smiled.

"Practicing your singing, but with dance moves this time?"

Nodding, Hyung Seok couldn't bring himself to say anything except for the price for the things she bought.

Saying their goodbyes, she left the store.

He watched her leave as he thought of the previous moments he's met her. They were at a weird relationship.

She's bought him in his other body at his school's slave auction before, but let him go right after. They've seen each other at his school, but they didn't talk with each other. After that, he hasn't met her since.

So, seeing her today made him have complex feelings as she was nice to him in this body, but not so much in his other one. Also, the fact that he got a misunderstanding from her coming to school and being rude, didn't help.

He also seemed to have given her a bad impression in his other body – not like he knew.

* * *

 

Soo Jeong, in her pretty body, was fresh out of the shower.

Getting dressed for her work, she gets a call.

Glancing at her phone, she answered it.

"Yes, father?"

Sitting on her bed, she glanced at her clock, just wanting their conversation to end so she can leave for work.

Listening half-heartedly, her ears perk up when she hears a familiar name; Park Hyung Seok.

Now listening and wondering why her father was so interested in that man, she replied when needed in the small bits of silence her father gave her. After talking a little more, her father ended the call.

Soo Jeong stood up.

Looks like she won't have to accompany her father during his meetings anymore as she got provided with a new job...

_As a manager_ _._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wahh. I'm sorry for not updating yesterday, I was hanging out with my friends. I know *gasp*, I have friends?! Jokes aside, to make up for not keeping my goal of updating every day, I'll update again today to forget that I ever skipped a day. <\-- which will make my record clean again (just barely made that rule up)!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter about practicing for the audition! Yay!

Panting, big Hyung Seok had his hands on his legs.

Ever since their first day of practice, Duk Hwa showed no mercy.

Whenever he would complain a little, Duk Hwa would reply with, "Once you become a trainee, it'll be worse."

Which made Hyung Seok not want to audition anymore, but it was too late as Duk Hwa already submitted his application. Meaning, he will still have to audition, whether he liked it or not.

Sure, he could just not show up, but he couldn't bring himself to do that when Duk Hwa helped him practice so much for this audition.

So, unwillingly, he continued to practice. The only thing giving him hope is when they reject him – which most likely won't happen.

Practicing his last few dance moves, he ends with a finishing pose.

Duk Hwa smiles, proud that Hyung Seok went from great to amazing over the last month and a half.

Finishing a few things, they said their goodbyes.

* * *

 

Jin Sung stared at his screen, watching a video of himself dancing. Satisfied with the obvious improvement, he went on to see how his rapping turned out.

Searching for the right recording, his hand shaking a little, he played it.

Hearing the first few lines of him rapping, he smirked.

* * *

 

Jang Hyeon sat on the ground of his room. Knowing that the audition is in a few days, he stared at the paper.

He knew that he'll do fine, but there was something in the back of his head that was telling him that he'll find some troublesome competition.

Listening to that side of his head, he couldn't help, but think:

_Interesting..._

* * *

 

Jae Yeol sat in the bathtub, having just finished his daily training for the audition.

Staring at the TV, he saw the announcement of the audition being told.

Watching for the heck of it, he let it play in the background as he thought through his plan.

Going over it until he was completely pleased with it, he went back to watching the TV.

Thinking various things, he couldn't help, but wonder how his family would react if he got accepted.

* * *

 

After Hyung Seok left Duk Hwa's house, his next students came in.

They told Duk Hwa that they didn't need help dancing as they'll figure that out themselves. So, he accepted it and only helped them with their rapping skills. For some reason, they didn't want to sing. Duk Hwa didn't mind as he didn't care whether they sang or rapped, as long as they were doing one or the other, it didn't matter.

Listening to them rap, he couldn't help, but feel proud of having two other students who have greatly approved since they first started.

Vasco had stopped fumbling with his words, and had gotten a better flow for his raps. Finding the type of rapping, he ended up sticking with the emotional type of rapping that greatly involved ones' background. Duk Hwa wondered what happened to him in the past, but decided that it was Vasco's business, not his.

When Bum Jae first rapped, he didn't have much emotion, making it hard for his teacher to give him advice. If he didn't want to learn, that was up to him, but that didn't help Duk Hwa.

Hearing him now, he has somehow gotten a hold of some emotion. There wasn't much to help him with as he already sounded decent and had a good flow. Now that he held some emotion, he sounded ten times better.

Wondering how he ended up with such students, Duk Hwa started to feel emotional. Since his three students will audition at the agency he got rejected at, he couldn't help thinking that they could avenge him in some form or another. Don't get him wrong, he got over it; mostly. He was only a little bitter, but it was more of a thought.

If his students could get in, he'd feel content with his work and support them all the way.

* * *

 

Arriving at the cafeteria, the topic of them auditioning somehow got spread around.

In a corner, Jang Hyeon and his fangirls were talking about how and why he was going to audition. Some asked for his phone number, to which he politely declined with the mention of having a pager.

In another corner sat the Architecture Department, all quietly standing... is how others saw them as the members were actually all surprised that Vasco was serious on auditioning. What surprised them even more is the fact that Bum Jae is joining him.

The people gossiping about Vasco and Bum Jae all had a similar subject.

Whether they'll get in or not.

Some didn't think they'd get in, but whispered it in fear of the Burn Knuckle crew hearing. The others would either wonder why they were auditioning while the rest thought that they had a chance in getting in.

Jin Sung had his own conversation with his group. Yui started saying that she'll support him all the way which he would wave her off with a simple, "Thanks."

His friends all wondered why he's auditioning in the first place, but decide to support him either way. One of them asking if he'd want to show up in his live on Paprika when he becomes famous.

Jin Sung didn't care about what the others thought, he only cared about Mi Jin's opinion. The only thing he got from her was her usual unidentifiable expression as she stared at him.

Jae Yeol was in his own little corner while some people wondered what he was going to do as he didn't talk or interact with anyone but Hyung Seok. Hearing the whispers, he ignored them and continued eating his food.

Hyung Seok stared at all of the commotion going on. He didn't know that there were going to be that many people he knew going to audition. He didn't even think some of them would even consider auditioning as they didn't seem like the type.

That didn't stop him from feeling relief from knowing that there was more of a chance of him not getting in. He also couldn't stop his curiosity on why they were auditioning. He kept it to himself, though.

While he was thinking, he had his own group of fans talking about him.

"Hyung Seok is going to audition?"

"Really?"

"I'll support him all the way!"

Not a single person thought he was going to get rejected, except for Hyung Seok himself.

While he was thinking, Jang Hyeon stared at him. As if thinking, he continued to stare before he stood up. Smiling and politely dismissing himself from his group, he walked towards him.

Right in front of the unsuspecting boy, he held his hand out.

"You're auditioning too?"

Hyung Seok blinked before taking his hand.

They've never had a conversation together. He would always see him in his crowd of girls every time he saw him. Seeing him talk to him now felt weird.

"Yeah. Um..."

Understanding the confusion, he smiles, "Sorry, I didn't introduce myself, did I? I'm Jang Hyeon from the Beauty Department."

Before he could introduce himself as well, the pink-haired male stopped him, "I know. Park Hyung Seok, right?"

Nodding, he didn't know what to do. This was his first time talking to such a friendly person, so he wasn't used to these kinds of situations.

While they were talking, a group of fangirls appeared out of nowhere as they started commenting about the view of the top two handsomest males in school. All fangirling except for the guys.

Jae Yeol stared in silence as he felt the jealousness pile up inside of him. He continued to stare as he decided to ignore it.

Jang Hyeon, glancing at his fangirls, smiles, "Good luck."

Letting go of his hand, he went back to his group of fangirls, making Hyung Seok stare in awe and wonder.

Hyung Seok, sitting down with his group, continued to stare at the teenager before going back to thinking about other things as he didn't think he would see the other a whole lot.

* * *

 

**_I was wrong. So wrong._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, again! I have redeemed myself, right? I sure hope so... I'll try not to skip a day without informing you guys first! Until tomorrow, bye!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay! They're going to audition!

~~~~Jae Yeol, wearing his most casual outfit, stood outside of the agency's building.

Wondering if he could catch up with big Hyung Seok, he waited outside.

Glancing at the street's clock, he couldn't help feeling anxious. Time ticking by, the audition getting closer by the second, worry started to kick in. Waiting a little longer, he finally catches the sight of the usual beautiful boy.

Relief from knowing he wasn't going to be late for the audition, he smiles. As Hyung Seok gets closer, he casually slips the smile off as he slowly walks side by side with his soon-to-be beloved.

* * *

 

Hyung Seok stared at his map, not sure if he had the right place.

Starting to panic, he glances around before spotting the agency. Still not sure, he decides to just enter the building and ask if he was at the right place.

Hearing footsteps, he glances to his left to see a familiar blond.

Smiling from seeing his friend, he greets him.

"Jae Yeol!"

Relieved, Hyung Seok nearly hugs Jae Yeol. Stopping midway, he ended up in an awkward position. Apologizing, Hyung Seok blushes as he inched away from Jae Yeol. The blond, slightly disappointed, doesn't say anything as a faint blush appeared on his face.

Now sure that he got the right place, they both had a conversation as they walked inside of the agency.

Arriving at the receptionist desk, the ladies behind it stared at their paper work before asking, "How may we help you?"

Hyung Seok replied for them. "Um. We're here for the audition." The two ladies glanced up, "Are we at the right place?"

Blinded from the radiating smile, they blushed before nodding rapidly.

"Y-yes!" one girl replied before the other nudged her, saying something with her eyes.

Understanding, she continued, "It's down that hall." Pointing at the hall, she gave her best smile, "Take a left, then go straight until you see the audition room."

Walking through the hall, they catch sight of a good-looking, black haired male. 

The male noticed them before smiling. Giving them a nod, he walked passed them.

Wondering who he was, they ignored their curiosity as they continued their way to the audition room.

Entering the room, the people inside glanced at the newcomers before going back to their own thing, seemingly unfazed.

That's how it was seen from the outside, at least. Inside their heads, they were all stunned and shocked by the sight of Hyung Seok.

_Who's that guy?!_

_No one told me someone like him would audition!_

_I bet he isn't talented and is just another pretty face..._

Back to the protagonist. Hyung Seok took in his surroundings and noticed all the good-looking guys, awestruck. Seeing these many handsome guys in one room was nerve-wracking, even if he didn't want to pass the audition.

To the other contestants, it looked like the two were just standing in the room, completely calm. They were only half-wrong.

Jae Yeol wasn't fazed by the faces as he just observed his friend, not having any interest in the other contestants – not like anyone could tell as his bangs were covering his eyes.

Waiting for their group to enter, they continued in silence; no one was saying anything or doing anything. The atmosphere was heavy before one of the judges called five people in. The group conveniently having Hyung Seok and Jae Yeol.

All of the chosen people stood up and walked inside the room. The atmosphere becoming nerve-wracking as they were now going to audition in front of three judges.

One of the judges was Kim Won Ho. He's had a single and has been one of the more famous rookies in the idol industry.

The person next to him was a pretty lady. The boys all blushed every time they even glanced at her. She didn't seem like she debuted or was famous for anything, making the boys wonder why she was even here. One person seemed to know who she was, though.

Hyung Seok stared with his mouth open, wondering why Soo Jeong's sister was a judge. He couldn't help recalling the moments they had together as he continued to stare at the beautiful lady.

Soo Jeong was already notified that Hyung Seok would be there, so all she did was blink before ignoring him and going back to her papers.

The last judge was the CEO himself.

At the sight of him, everyone dropped dead silent, but it didn't stop them from either admiring Kim Won Ho – as a role model – or Soo Jeong in their minds.

After a few moments of silence, the CEO gestured for the one on the far left to state their name and what they were auditioning as – a singer, dancer, rapper, etc.

After seeing them sing and dance, they continued to listen to everyone else until it was time for Jae Yeol's turn.

Hyung Seok stared at Jae Yeol with anticipation as he had never heard his voice before.

The judges all looked at their paper. Seeing the words:

_Mysterious type. Never talks._

Blinking, they all went back to Jae Yeol.

The CEO found that interesting.

"Heh. The silent type? How are you going to communicate, then?"

Jae Yeol started to sweat a little as he wasn't sure how he was going to do it without talking. He can somewhat communicate without words, but he wasn't very good at it. To boot, it'd usually take a long time until the other person finally understood what he was trying to say.

Everyone stared at him, wondering what was taking him so long. Before Jae Yeol could attempt to communicate, something stopped him. Glancing to his right, he saw Hyung Seok's hand on his arm.

Hyung Seok couldn't help himself from opening his mouth.

"His name is Hong Jae Yeol. He's auditioning as a dancer."

Everybody blinked.

They didn't expect that.

Turning towards Hyung Seok, the last contestant, they wondered why he spoke up.

The CEO seemed to understand as he smiled.

"You're his translator?"

He nodded.

"What if you don't get in and he does?"

Hyung Seok bit his lip, wondering if he should say it. Not caring after a few seconds, he continued, "There's nothing to worry about." Stopping, he showed a look of determination:

"We'll both get in."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a little late, but I managed to update on the same day (where I am, at least)! Yay!
> 
> Also, hi autumnseasons!! I'm going to try to not reply in the comment section, so I'll maybe mention you guys in the notes instead.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Auditioning scene with our precious Jae!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Before you read this chapter, please make sure you read chapter 8! I fixed the dates on this fanfic, so if you think it's different than before, that's why! I didn't really pay attention to the dates while uploading, so I just posted it with the wrong date...
> 
> Oh, well. It's fixed now.

"We'll both get in."

Blinking, they were all stunned silent.

Turning towards the boy, they saw him stand with not a single shred of unsureness. They continued to stare as they couldn't believe the amount of confidence he had while saying that.

Hyung Seok couldn't either.

After realizing what he said, he automatically went back to his shy self as he stared at the ground with some sweat starting to appear on his forehead. Wondering if he could still take back his words, he thought about it. Shaking his head, he decided that he shouldn't take it back as the man was picking on Jae Yeol.

No one is allowed to pick on Jae Yeol.

No one.

Finding his statement interesting, the CEO went back to Jae Yeol.

Jae Yeol was gaping, just as surprised as the others. However, the moment he felt the CEO's stare, he closed his mouth and stared back.

The scarred man nodded, wanting him to show his talents.

Jae Yeol nodded back.

Waiting for the music to play, he stretched his legs and arms. Anticipation from the other contestants and judges filled the room.

The song played. Everyone now stared at him, having their complete attention on the boy.

Once his cue started, his eyes lit up.

Moving in a fast pace throughout the whole thing, he glided to the left.

Putting his legs together, he places his hand through his hair – while somehow not showing his eyes – as he put a hand on his thigh and lifted his left foot. Hunching his body, he placed it down. Lowering his head with his hand, he lifted his left leg again before placing it back on the ground as the hand on his head goes to the side of his face.

Bending to the right, he puts his legs together and extends his left leg in front of him with his right leg bending behind him. Lifting his bent right arm up, he moves his hand sideways as his legs go in and out.

He then moves back a little with a bend of his legs to crouch on the ground. Turning his head left, right, then left, he stands up again. With a bend of his knees, he jumps. He lands on his left leg while his right leg is up in the air. Bending his right leg, it goes around his other leg.

He puts his hand on his chin, then moves his body to the front while lowering his leg. Without it touching the ground, he moves his body to the front and kicks his leg backwards with his right arm, still bent, in front of him. Kicking his leg forwards, he puts it on the ground, his position showing his sideview before moving it back to the front to kick again.

The song near the ending, he crouches on the ground and hits it with his fist, perfectly ending with the end beat of the song.

Everyone stayed silent.

The blond male was sweating a little as he let out a few pants.

Glancing up, Jae Yeol saw their faces.

They were pleasantly surprised. He only had fifteen seconds to perform his dance. Seeing that many movements in such a short time and at a fast pace, they couldn't help gapping at the blond boy.

Hyung Seok, dropping out of his awe, clapped his hands.

"Woah, Jae Yeol! You did great!"

Hearing the boy, they snapped out of it. Finding it a little weird that he was clapping for another contestant, they decided to ignore it as they went back to Jae Yeol.

He was standing up now, getting ready to show his other talent.

Singing.

There was a time in his mind where he thought he could get away with not showing off his vocal cords, at all. However, the thought was futile.

The next song about to play, he mentally prepared himself for showing his vocal chords for the first time in ages.

The song playing, Jae Yeol cleared his throat, prepared.

Opening his mouth, everyone couldn't help staring as they waited for the sound.

The moment his voice was heard, they widened their eyes.

His voice was melodic, and just... _beautiful_.

Everybody was transfixed as they continued to hear him sing.

Some couldn't help, but close their eyes to appreciate his voice. The rest were just staring, not knowing what else to do as their brains weren't fully functioning.

Jae Yeol had his eyes closed the whole time, not wanting to know how the others were reacting as it's been a long time since he's sang.

Even without opening his eyes, he could tell that Hyung Seok was staring right at him. Making him want to show off a little despite not wanting anyone's opinion; well, maybe not _everyone_ , seeing as he was trying to impress a certain black-haired male.

* * *

 

While everyone was transfixed, Hyung Seok found it _breathtaking_.

He was watching just like the rest, but he seemed to be feeling a lot more than he should.

Wondering why his heart was faster than usual, he thought:

_What is this feeling...?_

Placing his hand on his heart, he glanced at it for a second before going back to staring at Jae Yeol.

_Why is my heart beating fast...?_

* * *

 

Jae Yeol, nearing the end of the song, finished the last few lines before peeking at Hyung Seok, wondering what happened to him.

Seeing him with his hand on his heart, Jae Yeol felt worried, but figured he could ask him after the audition was over.

After some time has passed, the CEO coughed into his hand. After his performance, he had formed quite a few plans that involved a certain mysterious male. However, he's not going to state any of them out as they weren't supposed to know yet.

Hearing the coughs, Soo Jeong and Kim Won Ho snapped out of their trance. Quickly glancing at their papers, they wrote some stuff down.

While they were doing that, the scarred man stared at Hyung Seok. He gestured to stand up, making sure the boy understood.

Understanding, Hyung Seok nodded.

It was his turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was the chapter? Did you like it? Sure hope you did. Were you guys okay with the dancing part? Was it too long? Too detailed? Opinions? I'm still taking recommendations on the dancing scenes. What's your opinion on no facial hair!Vasco? 
> 
> Hi, BakuraOrihara! Thanks for the compliment! I really appreciate your comments! Thank you!
> 
> That's all for now! See you tomorrow!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay. Hyung Seok's turn!!!

The CEO read his paper, "You're auditioning as a singer?"

Hyung Seok nodded.

The CEO hummed, after glancing at the paper, he put his gaze on the boy.

He remembers the boy from the school festival, and knows why he tried to scout him out. However, he still felt a little bitter that the boy rejected his offer in the first place. So, this time, he'll watch extra carefully – not even going to accept a small mistake like the one he did in his school's performance.

He felt a little bad that he was going to judge more harshly on the boy, but couldn't help doing it all the same.

Despite not liking Hyung Seok all that much, he couldn't help himself from intently watching the boy. He got his interest before, so there was a chance he would do it again.

Everyone was now waiting for the black-haired male to show off his skills.

Before doing so, Hyung Seok seemed to remember something as his eyes lit up a little.

"Um..." Wanting to ask a question, he waits until the CEO nods for him to keep going, "Can I borrow the piano?"

The CEO blinked, not expecting anyone to play their own accompaniment as it rarely happens.

Nodding, he gestures for him to take a seat on the piano stool.

Auditioning as a singer, he saves the dancing for last. Besides, he would rather sing first as he was more comfortable showing off his vocal chords than his dance moves.

Doing quiet vocal practices, he prepares himself for a few seconds before deeming it good enough.

Opening his mouth, he sings without playing the piano.

His voice was quiet at first before it gradually started getting louder as he played the piano.

The people listening couldn't help their eyes from widening. Such a beautiful and soothing voice came out of the young man's mouth.

His voice was so pleasant to the ears that they were practically swooning – not like any of them would admit it.

Not only that, they could also hear emotion from his singing. After listening for a few more seconds, they realized that he was singing an original. That'd explain why he was playing his own accompaniment.

Once his voice started getting more powerful, the rest started sitting on the edge of their seats. They've never heard such vocal chords before, that they couldn't help wanting to hear it more clearly.

While everyone was enjoying the song, Jae Yeol was enjoying it even more than the rest of them.

The first time Jae Yeol heard him sing, the cheers from the crowd were in the way, making it hard to fully appreciate the boy's voice. Hearing his voice right next to him, voice undisturbed, his ears tingled while small goosebumps started to form on his arms.

He couldn't keep his eyes off the singing boy as he continued to appreciate the view, noticing a few things.

The moment he closed his eyes to sing; the way his light fingers played the piano; the technique he used to slowly control his vocal chords more.

 _Everything_.

* * *

 

The song ending, Hyung Seok stops singing and plays the last few notes on the piano.

Finally opening his eyes, he saw the CEO shocked before seeing his face slowly going back to normal, realizing the song was over.

He now remembered why he wanted the boy under DY agency. But, he improved so much more than the last time he saw him; making him wonder how much he's practiced since then.

Soo Jeong was staring at Hyung Seok, wondering why his voice sounded so familiar. However, the moment the CEO made it obvious that he needed them to stop daydreaming, she decided to push the thought back to the back of her head.

Kim Won Ho was still a little shocked, remembering that Hyung Seok's voice wasn't as good as this. Remembering that he shouldn't be so surprised as he was a professional singer, he snapped out of it.

Once the CEO made sure the other judges were paying attention, he asked, "Did you make this song yourself?"

Hyung Seok, rubbing the back of his head, replied, "I did, but with some help from my friend, Duk Hwa."

The sunglasses wearing man, seemingly thinking of something, continued, "Make sure you introduce him to me next time."

Hyung Seok perked up at that, "You already have. He was the one I performed with at the festival."

He seemed to recall him before replying, "Oh. Him."

The teenager nodded.

The scarred man hummed a little more before changing the topic. "Your singing has improved since the last time I've heard it."

"Ah. Thank you." He rubbed his head again as he blushed a little.

The other contestants couldn't help listening on the conversation.

_The CEO heard him sing before?_

_They've met before?_

_I thought he was an amateur trying out his luck!_

Jae Yeol couldn't stop smiling from seeing the others getting worried that they wouldn't get in, because of a certain black-haired male.

After talking a little more, it was time for his dancing skills.

Sure, he didn't have to dance, but Duk Hwa kept insisting that he should as the chances of getting in would increase. The fact that everybody danced, didn't help.

So, stretching, he decided to just go ahead and show off his dance moves.

Standing still with his arms behind his back, he had his head down.

Once the music played, his head was looking left. He pulled his legs outwards while his right arm went up, and snapped after his legs went back together. Pulling his legs outward again, his head went to the opposite direction while his right arm went across him to snap again.

Doing those two moves again, his arms went out in a hug position before crossing them and going back into a hug position.

Both arms went down his legs and snapped while he kicked his right leg out. Putting his right leg behind his left leg, he made his left hand touch his arm that was now going around him to touch his left side. His left hand snapped again before tilting his head to the right and intertwining his hands together, moving it side to side before putting his arms back into a hug position.

Moving his head to the right, he put his hand on his chin while his other hand was around his side. His head moving sharply up, then left, he moved the arm that was on his side, up before lowering his legs and going back up.

Turning to his right, his arm on that side went up. Moving his right leg out, he moves his right arm back before swiftly putting it in front of him while his right leg kicked in front and went behind his other leg.

Putting his right leg in front of the other, he jumped a little and moved his legs outwards before moving his left leg to the right again. Landing on it, he snaps.

Putting his leg back up, he put it back down before jumping to the right and going back to putting his left leg behind him, sideways. Lifting his leg again, he puts it back down. Moving his legs right, he went back to doing the same move.

The song ending, he lifted his leg and opposite arm up before taking a step forwards and going back to putting his legs together. His arm went across his chest as he hit it, matching the end beats of the song.

Everyone couldn't help staring in awe. Seems like they were getting surprised a lot today. Weird, but not unwanted.

The CEO, used to getting rid of his shock, just nodded his head before coughing into his hand.

"You may leave the room."

Knowing that they had to leave for the next group to come in, everyone stood up and bowed.

"Thank you."

Like that, they left the room. Once they left, everyone stared at the last pair that left the room. They knew that those two were going to get in.

With their talents, how could they not?

Whispering about the black-haired and blond duo, they let the next group pass through them.

Once out of the room, Hyung Seok and Jae Yeol both sneaked a peak at the other, only to stare at each other's eyes. Embarrassed, they looked away.

Their embarrassment quickly left them as they felt the sudden change in atmosphere. Looking up, they saw two familiar faces.

Jin Sung and Vasco.

Seeing their determined expressions, they knew that the judges weren't done getting pleasantly surprised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so close!!! I almost updated on time!!!!! It's 12 AM... I'll still count that. You're gonna get another update on the same day anyway, so whatever. I was close, so I'll count it. Why does Astro have to have so many moves happening in fifteen seconds? Like, seriously! I used them as a reference this time, and I had to edit so much, because of them! Argh! Still love seeing their smooth and synchronized dance moves, though... Yeah, so if you thought this was a little sloppy, then that's why.
> 
> The song I thought of while writing his singing was, "Gloomy Day". The OST. I recommend that you watch it if you haven't!!!!
> 
> Also, Oogity boogity, thanks for the comment. It made me laugh a little!
> 
> Update: Woah, you can paste videos on here? Cool.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jin Sung!!!!!!

Jin Sung entered the waiting room, a little disheveled. Glancing at the clock, he notices that he's barely on time before he silently cheers. Taking in the room, he noticed that everybody was silent, doing their own thing. However, to define 'their own thing' is basically saying they were doing nothing.

They didn't sing, rap, dance, practice, read; nothing. They all just waited for their turn to audition.

Jin Sung couldn't care less if they were doing anything, he just wanted to hurry up and audition and get accepted. Simple.

Looking through the room, he happened to notice something he didn't notice before. Well, not something, more like _someone_.

Lee Eun Tae.

Jin Sung couldn't believe that he didn't recognize him sooner. He just kind of blended in with the environment, which is weird since Vasco usually never blends in.

Staring at Vasco, he wondered what was off. He couldn't put his finger on it. There was definitely something different. Continuing to analyze the man, he finally figured it out.

Bum Jae wasn't with him.

Understanding why he felt like something was wrong, Jin Sung continued to ignore Vasco until it was time to audition.

However, it was rather short-lived as someone called out, "Jin Sung!"

Turning his back, he saw Vasco right in front of him, gleaming.

"I didn't know you were going to audition."

Jin Sung couldn't help himself from ignoring him, pretending he didn't know him. Glancing around, he noticed the stares of everyone else; clearly annoyed with the noise.

Not wanting to stand out, Jin Sung continued to ignore him until Vasco eventually shut up.

Wondering why he shut up, he noticed that they were choosing the next group.

They were both picked.

They glanced at each other.

Standing up, they both walked towards the door, waiting for the last people to walk out.

Noticing the last two, they continued to walk through, atmosphere getting heavier for some reason.

* * *

 

Going through the auditionees, it was finally Jin Sung's turn.

Mentally smirking, he slowly stood up, waiting for the CEO to let him speak.

The CEO noticed what he was waiting for as he glanced at his paper.

Turning back to Jin Sung, he waited for him to introduce himself.

Understanding, Jin Sung bowed, "Lee Jin Sung. I'm auditioning as a rapper."

"Do you have any experience in rapping?"

Jin Sung continued, "I've been practicing for a month and a half, Sir."

The others couldn't believe how polite he was being right now. Sure, they didn't know him, but he didn't strike them as a polite person.

Vasco was a little surprised himself, but didn't dwell on it as he continued to observe the scene.

The CEO hummed.

Giving him a signal to start, the CEO nodded.

Before he rapped, he paused before asking the CEO:

"Ah, excuse me, but could you give me a subject to rap about?"

That interested everyone. He was going to freestyle? He sure was pushing his luck.

So far, everyone prepared their own memorized rap as they couldn't risk messing up under pressure. Jin Sung was one of the only ones who decided to freestyle for the audition – which wasn't much.

Some people may think it's reckless, but Jin Sung was freestyling for a reason.

During his times practicing his rapping, he found out that he was better off freestyling instead of memorizing the lyrics. Every time he tried to memorize the lyrics, he would always end up changing it in the end. Not wanting to spend a whole lot of time with the lyrics, he decided to just wing it. Ending up as freestyle.

Finding that acceptable, and incredibly confident in his skills, he decided to not memorize anything for the audition. Yup, that meant dancing too. He found that it wasted too much time, he only had a month and a half, after all. So, he's winging it with both rapping and dancing.

Let's see how that goes.

The CEO raised his eyebrows before they went back down.

Not hesitating, the CEO gave the topic.

Hearing it, Jin Sung blinked before he mentally smirked.

Nodding, he accepted the topic.

The CEO asked while glancing at the boy, "Do you need a beat?"

He shook his head, "No, Sir. I'll be fine without one."

One of the other things he noticed while freestyling is that he's better if there's no set beat. Don't misunderstand, he can do it if there is a beat, but he feels like he does better without one.

This decision will make the others only hear the boy's voice, no beat to distract them from it. His bare voice. If he messes up, it'll be even more noticeable.

Nodding, the CEO gestured for him to start.

Going with a relatively slow tempo, he starts.

The judges all take their eyes off their papers to stare at the boy.

He had good flow. His style was great. The delivery was on point as he didn't even think of the subject himself. He had good literary techniques and had good diction and dialect.

He had good vocal control, breath control, voice inflection, and the ability to convey different emotions with his voice. Also, doing a great job on not sounding like he was rapping with monotone.

Overall, they could tell that Jin Sung must have practiced a lot if he never had any rapping experience before this.

Getting interested, they made sure to keep an eye on him.

Finishing his rap, the others felt the urge to clap, but went against it. This was an audition, an _auditio_ _n_. They couldn't possibly do that.

Vasco seemed to understand that part as he managed to stop himself from clapping. It didn't stop him from gleaming at his coolness, though.

Jin Sung glanced at the judges, wondering if it was good enough. Not caring after a while, he decided that it was time to dance. Not even waiting for the music, he started.

He lifted his right leg while his right arm was bent up with the other arm directly under it. Swaying his head left and right, he put his right leg in front of his left leg, both legs bending.

Going out in an open arm position, he spread his legs out. Unbending his legs, he lifts his right leg up while his arms are around each other, then moves his head left and right again.

Putting his leg down in front of his other one, his body leaned to the right while his arms went back to an open arm position before pushing it behind him. While pushing his arms back, he lifts his left leg up while giving a slight jump with the leg on the ground, making him move behind a little.

Putting his arms back in front of him, he puts his leg down before jumping and making a cross with his arms. Landing back on the ground with his left leg in front of his other one. He jumps again a little with his right leg, behind him, going up.

He puts his arms out before putting his right arm directly above his left arm while putting his left hand on his neck, leg still in the air. Putting his legs side by side with a space in between, he puts his arm extended downwards while his left hand holds his elbow.

Jumping a little, he raises his right leg up with his arms bending up. Jumping again, his arms still in the air, he lands on his feet while his arms go down with his left hand on his heart. The song ending, he moves his body up in robot movements before hitting his chest with the last notes of the music.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!! I stopped at this part because if I didn't, I would end up being late with the update, so yeah... You get what you get. A small cliffhanger that's slightly different than the rest. Also, are you guys really okay reading that many words for the dancing scenes? Seriously, it's around 200-300 words each time I write them out. Are you sure you guys like reading them? Also, yay! I managed to post this two minutes before 12 AM! Yay! If I ever feel like I could do better, I will go back and edit it, so... yeah. See you tomorrow!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay! It's Vasco!!!

Everyone was fairly impressed by the boy. He seemed more of a delinquent than an idol, so they weren't expecting much from him. However, seeing him doing so well, the contestants started to feel threatened that he'll be one of the people that stop them from getting in the group.

DY agency hasn't debuted any groups for the past twelve years. There was a rumor going on that whoever debuted as an idol group from DY, they'll instantly become famous.

They believed it.

All of the groups from DY agency have been successful, even when they disbanded and went on to pursue their solo debuts or becoming a host of a variety show.

Remembering why they wanted to debut from this agency, they started to regret not practicing harder as they seemed to have already lost to a certain delinquent-like male.

They stared at the boy. His turn already over as the judges were writing stuff down.

Looking beside the male, they observed the last contestant.

Vasco.

They were staring at him. They didn't know if he was a threat, but seeing his facial hair, they wondered if he'd be able to keep it if he managed to get accepted. Shaking their heads, they already started assuming that Vasco wasn't going to get in.

DY agency focused more on clean looking people. With his facial hair, it made him not have that look.

_He looks even more of a delinquent than the other guy!_

_He has facial hair! What K-Pop idol has facial hai_ _r,_ _nowadays?_

_He probably isn't popular with_ _the_ _girls at his school_ _!_

While they were judging Vasco, the man, himself, couldn't wait for his turn to start.

He practiced with Bum Jae and Duk Hwa, and had gotten plenty of compliments about his skills from them. Whether they were just being nice or genuine, he didn't know. That didn't stop him from being confident as he patiently waited for the CEO to call on him.

A few seconds passed before the CEO glanced up at the excited man. Taking in his looks, he already started judging him. He wondered why he kept his facial hair, but didn't bother dwelling on it any further.

Taking his stare as a confirmation to introduce himself, Vasco gleamed, "I'm auditioning as a rapper."

The CEO kept his eyes on the paper, "I see..."

He didn't seem all that interested in Vasco, but he didn't know that. Waiting patiently, Vasco was apparently waiting for the CEO to tell him to do something.

Catching on, the scarred man glanced up, "You may proceed."

Smiling with sparkles around him, he started with rapping.

Learning how to rap from Duk Hwa, he barely managed to freestyle with minor mistakes here and there. However, Duk Hwa didn't want him to risk that, so he provided him a premade rap for him.

Getting ready to rap, his childish like-self disappeared as he started to look more serious.

That caught the other people's attention. For a while, the boy kept up his gleaming smile, so seeing him get serious out of nowhere, made them curious.

The judges made sure to watch him as well, making sure they didn't miss anything important.

The moment he started rapping his first few lines, they were instantly taken in.

His rapping style seemed to be constructed carefully as they could tell that he made sure to do certain things. Things like keeping the flow, making sure he was on beat, and having emotion. Especially the emotion.

In the first lines, they couldn't quite grasp the emotion lying underneath the words until they reached the point where he started rapping faster.

The words were crisp despite him saying them fast, making them catch every single word of it.

They took the words in, and felt the emotion the boy was trying to convey.

Jin Sung did too.

He couldn't believe that this rapping person was the same idiot from the Architecture Department.

Listening to him rap more, Jin Sung slowly started to not care as he was too busy appreciating the rap. Realizing what was happening, he mentally slapped himself. He couldn't believe that he was openly appreciating _someone else's_ rap. Especially a potential rival on stealing his chance of getting in the group.

While Jin Sung was having complicated thoughts, Vasco started to show more emotion.

They didn't know what to think of it. There were too many emotions coming from the boy's mouth. They wondered how he managed to do it.

Contemplating, the candidates were wondering how they could've done better on the emotion part. Some of them remembered that all they did was rap and show off their vocal skills, not showing emotion.

They started to put their heads down as they realized that the two last contestants were most likely going to get in than any of them.

Vasco was reaching the end as he started to slow down his rap. At the end, his breath was a little uneven, but he managed to quickly even it back.

The judges were impressed. The auditioning times were still in the early scheduled times, but they were already considering on choosing certain people. All of them being the same group of people. They shook the idea away; they couldn't pick anyone until the audition was officially over.

Already done putting down notes, they glanced back at the boy who was sparkling a little. It's as if he accomplished something that he wasn't able to do before – not like any of them would know that.

Now full on staring at him, they wondered what he was waiting for. Didn't he have anything else to show?

The question was going to be answered as the CEO asked the person, himself, "Are you going to dance?"

Vasco was now back to being serious.

"No, CEO, Sir."

_CEO, Sir?_

They questioned his wording for a while before dismissing it as nothing.

He pushed further, making sure he really didn't have anything else to show, "Do you have anything else you could show us? Any special talents?"

Vasco continued to deny.

"Nothing."

He had a reason for not showing anything other than rapping.

During his time practicing with Duk Hwa, he realized that Vasco needed a lot of help on rapping. The poor boy kept on saying the wrong words and kept fumbling on the slightly harder vocabulary. Wondering how he could help him, Duk Hwa made up his mind. So, thinking that rapping was more important, he decided to focus solely on rapping.

So, over the timespan of a month and a half, all Vasco did was learn how to rap. That's it. He didn't learn how to dance, sing, etc.

He only learned how to rap.

Actually, scratch that – he only learned how to remember words that Duk Hwa told him to rap. He didn't learn how to freestyle, he only acquired the memorization skill and how to improve his flow and punctuation.

Bum Jae was in charge of teaching Vasco how to dance, but they somehow kept postponing it as they had to do other stuff; fighting, keeping Burn Knuckle on track, etc.

When Bum Jae tried to mention dancing, Vasco would show his happy face that it made it hard for Bum Jae to tell him.

Vasco wasn't very good at dancing. Well, not the audition-passable type of dancing, at least.

Vasco's dancing skill was average and he could possibly learn the moves fast. Yet, seeing him dance, somehow felt off. Like, he was slightly doing the dance move wrong that it made everything feel off. Bum Jae didn't know what was wrong as he wasn't much of a dancer, himself. So, his last hope was to tell Vasco that he shouldn't dance at the audition.

Good thing Vasco actually listened to him for once.

The CEO just nodded. It wasn't required to dance, so he didn't question him any further.

Almost everyone danced, so it was a little refreshing to not see someone dance. Even if it meant that they might get a smaller chance of getting in.

Dismissing the others, the contestants left the room.

Out of the room, the other five people were standing at the door, waiting for their turn to go through the door.

The group happening to have Bum Jae, Jang Hyeon, and...

A black-haired male.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boop. Hello, there! I can't believe how much weight was lifted off of me when I didn't write another dancing scene... And how early I posted this. I started writing this at 8 and now it's 10. Wow. For the dancing scenes, they're a little hard for me to write and I bet it's hard to read too, sooooo... My plan is to write the dancing scenes shorter and only make them 200-300 words long (or longer) when it's their concert or when they perform at a variety show. The moments where it'll be shorter is when they learn a new dance move during practice. Also, sorry for calling Vasco an idiot. That was Jin Sung, I swear. 
> 
> Thank you, autumnseasons and Just A Lookism Lover, for commenting!!!!!
> 
> See you tomorrow!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BUM JAE!

Bum Jae sat in the waiting room.

Staring at the ground, he thought about all the possibilities of Vasco not being able to handle being by himself. Only to shake his head to think of the positive side of things.

He wasn't able to go at the same time as Vasco as he managed to get there without telling him. Vasco seemed to be so excited and thought about their 'telepathy', that he didn't bother telling Bum Jae that he was already at the audition.

Bum Jae first found out by waking up and checking his lover's app to find that Vasco was already at the destination they promised to meet at.

Bolting out of bed, he immediately got ready to leave. Leaving his house in a hurry, he couldn't help feeling worried.

_Vasco...!_

Now, there he was. Sitting, not knowing anyone. The only thing he knew was that Vasco was in the audition room while he sat in the waiting room, dreadful.

Glancing around the room to pass off time, he noticed someone familiar.

Jang Hyeon.

Jang Hyeon never struck him as someone Vasco would like, seeing as he's handsome and popular with the girls. He didn't care much for him, though. He didn't try to communicate with Vasco or get involved with anything related to him. Seeing him here didn't make Bum Jae cautious, at all. He's even glad he's here, making the chances of them not getting in, higher.

Staring at him for a little too long, Jang Hyeon starts to notice his stare.

Instantly turning his head over at Bum Jae's area, he smiled.

Bum Jae immediately didn't like him.

Who smiles at some random person staring at him? Not Bum Jae, that's for sure.

Placing his gaze somewhere else, Bum Jae went back to observing the auditionees.

They all had similar characteristics; handsome and charismatic.

There was one person that stuck out the most, though.

A black-haired male.

He somehow gave him the same vibes as Hyung Seok. He didn't know if it was because they were both incredibly good-looking or because of something he didn't know. It didn't change the fact that he still reminded him of Hyung Seok for some reason. Considering the theories going through his head, he slowly starts caring less as he goes on with his observing.

Seeing more and more potential idols, he decides that he took in enough information.

Going through the info he had, it instantly made him feel relieved. With the competition he has, he starts feeling certain that he isn't going to get in.  

Sighing in relief, he glances at the clock.

It was time for the next group to go in.

* * *

 

The CEO acknowledged Jang Hyeon's presence.

Jang Hyeon gave him a slight nod of his head, greeting him.

While they were doing that, the other contestants walking inside the room, felt dreadful that some guy already had a better chance of getting in than they did.

Trying to appeal to the judges, they start showing off their best-selling body part.

They knew that DY agency strongly goes for looks, just like a lot of other companies. Also, there was a pretty lady in the room, so that didn't stop them from going all out.

Some were making sure that they clearly showed off their sharp jawline; a fraction of them made sure that they brought out their cute features as that's what they were going for; while the rest tried to sit normally, going for a different technic. Acting natural.

Apparently, acting natural was the way to go as the judges seemed more interested in them instead of the not-so discreet way of showing off.

Bum Jae and Jang Hyeon happened to be the most natural amongst the others.

Bum Jae, not wanting to audition, and Jang Hyeon being used to the presence of a higher up.

The judges, other than the CEO, were notified that they were looking for certain things every time a new group comes in.

The first group was solely judged on their charisma. Second group, ability to grasp their attention. Now third, they were looking for the most natural. If someone isn't natural, it'll feel rather awkward watching them on TV, making it heavily judged upon.

Don't get them wrong, even if they didn't follow the requirements of their secret judging, the people who didn't quite fit in the category at the time will still get a chance of getting in. It's just that the CEO felt like being a little playful as this kind of audition hasn't been done in a long time.

The people who do happen to meet the requirements will most definitely get a chance to debut. After all, luck played a huge role in being a popular idol group.

Checking the auditionees out, there was someone else who caught their eye.

The black-haired male.

He gave off a special feeling.

A feeling indescribable, that they couldn't quite take their eyes off his figure.

Slowly regaining their conscience, they shook it away. They had an audition to judge.

They turned towards the first auditionee, Bum Jae.

He was sitting on the far left of the seats, after all. That seat always goes first.

Bum Jae seemed to understand as he nodded.

Standing up, he introduced himself, "I'm Park Bum Jae, auditioning as a rapper."

They nodded, their attention still on him.

Assuming that they didn't have to signal him to start his talents, he starts with rapping.

He didn't have much time practicing his dancing – because of a certain someone – so he decided to give himself a little more time on whether he'd dance or not.

He started his rapping with some words; getting in the zone.

After saying, "Yeah. Yeah." He started rapping with more words in a beat.

His words were smooth and felt nice to the ears.

Liking the sound, some of the contestants even bounced their heads to the beat, not realizing it.

The judges were impressed, they knew that he was going to help the group a lot if he could rap like that every time.

There were no mistakes. Well, to the inexperienced rappers, at least.

The CEO could hear some lack of experience in his rapping, interested in how he got this good with that amount of experience.

Finishing his rap, Bum Jae finished it off with the same way he started it. Saying the last words, he managed to end it with a nice feeling.

Everyone felt nice for some reason. They didn't know why, but the way he ended it felt right. Somewhat perfect.

The other rapping auditionees silently clicked their tongue, wondering if they could give the same impression Bum Jae gave.

Jang Hyeon seemed interested in him too...

Along with a certain black-haired male.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! How's it going? I don't really have anything to say, so... yeah. I'm bad at starting conversations. Not like any of you guys will answer this, anyway... Oh, well. I hope you guys enjoyed this! See you tomorrow!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jang Hyeon!!!

In the end, Bum Jae decided not to dance.

He didn't want to embarrass himself, nor did he really want to be an idol. He deemed it as a smart choice as he remembered the last time he danced.

Shuddering at the thought, he decided to clear the image with the next contestants performance.

The audition went on. Each time a person finished, the person on their left would go next.

Starting to lose interest, Bum Jae couldn't wait until the audition was over.

Everyone was talented, yeah, but seeing the same amount of talent repeatedly, got boring.

Staring at the clock, he waited for the time to go by faster.

Hearing, "I'm Jang Hyeon," made Bum Jae's ears perk up.

He almost forgot about him. The boy from the Beauty Department.

Seeing him now made his opinion on him change.

The pink-haired male was more serious. Determined. Usually, he would see him flirt with the girls at school, carefree. Seeing him so serious was refreshing.

Not like Bum Jae really knew him in the first place.

* * *

 

The CEO took his eyes off the paper as he glanced over at Jang Hyeon.

Jang Hyeon, despite being nervous and anxious, managed to keep his shaking to a minimum. His shaking only noticeable to the CEO.

The CEO seemed to be used to such reactions. This was the third group that came in for the audition, after all. He's only surprised that Jang Hyeon was the one shaking among the few that did. Jang Hyeon didn't seem like the type to shake out of nervousness.

He understood why he was reacting like that, so he decided to not comment on it. He knew if he did, he would only make him shake more, and worse, embarrassed.

Glancing at the one he was neglecting, he could only wonder if this person could catch his interest.

The black-haired male.

He managed to catch his attention when he walked in, his charisma practically leaking from him. However, now, he seemed just like the rest. Typical. He was idol potential, but there was something missing. The fact that he couldn't put his finger on it, made him irritated.

That was one way to catch a person's attention, he supposed.

His performance made him seem mediocre. The same level as almost everybody else. Normal. Boring. Yet, he still managed to be better than the mediocre. He was like the top of the mediocre, not quite above average. That almost caught his interest, yet not at all.

It felt like the boy could do better. Way better than the performance he was currently giving to the judges. It's like he wasn't trying. As if he didn't even want to audition from this agency. Which is weird. Why would he audition here if he didn't even want to get accepted?

Despite not being completely interested, one thing did catch his interest.

The fact that the black-haired male was more interested in watching the other contestants than passing the audition.

* * *

 

Jang Hyeon was nervous. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, though.

He's been waiting for this moment ever since he became a trainee of DY agency. He isn't going to let this opportunity pass. Not when he finally managed to convince the CEO to make a group after all his years as a trainee. Nope. He's certainly not going to let this pass.

He sat straight with perfect posture, however, his head was down, hair covering his face. Not ready to face the judges as if he still needed to prepare something before performing.

Jang Hyeon was mentally trying to calm himself.

This wasn't the time to be nervous. The more nervous someone was, the more mistakes they tend to make. He couldn't let that happen. Not today.

Continuing to think of encouraging words, he managed to stop the shaking, and even out his breathing.

Satisfied with the result, he let out a deep breath. Collecting the negative thoughts and throwing them away. Temporarily.

He managed to get most of his nervousness out on time as it was finally his turn to perform.

Glancing up at the CEO, he nodded.

Standing up, he continued to breathe slowly, making sure his heart beat didn't fasten.

"I'm Jang Hyeon," showing his face, he smiled, "Auditioning as a singer."

The CEO was shocked. Jang Hyeon managed to calm down his nerves and present himself as if he was never nervous.

That was one of the things he made sure to watch out for. If one of the members could keep his composure, he'll most likely get the other members composed as well.

Smiling at the thought, he continued to observe the pink-haired boy. Clearly interested in placing him in the group. Possibly the leader.

Jang Hyeon couldn't believe that he wasn't completely calm yet. He was auditioning as a dancer for fricks sake. Silently cursing in his mind, he decided to just go with it.

He was confident in his singing too, after all.

In the past, he wondered if he should stick with being a dancer or singer. He chose to be a dancer. Looks like his stupid mouth decided to change its' mind at the last second.

Just great.

He was confident in singing, but he didn't put as much effort in it than he would've liked. He was set on being a dancer. Seeing that he was now apparently a singer, he couldn't help wondering if he would be okay.

Deciding to wing it – he shook the idea out of his head. What was he thinking? This wasn't the time to wing anything. Especially not this audition.

Despite all of that going through his head, he managed to keep his refreshing smile on the outside. His thoughts only taking about two seconds of his time, only barely managing to not make the atmosphere awkward. Seems like he's prepared to be an idol, after all.

Mentally clearing his throat. His decision was to just go for it. No point in stressing over it now.

Waiting for his song to play, he kept on giving himself encouraging words, not wanting to feel the dread that was slowly creeping up on him.

Breathing through his nose, he opened his mouth.

The people hearing his voice thought it was nice... only to think that that was an understatement. His voice was beautiful.

There was a strong emotion going through his words. Dread. As if he was the one going through what the song was going through. His posture spoke thousands, but no one completely understood why.

Maybe except for the CEO.

Not a whole lot of things can pass by an experienced CEO of an idol company, after all.

He knew that all of this was accidental as the feelings of dread decided to release from the boy's voice, not able to stand being kept inside.

Good thing that the song he chose was depressing or else the emotion would be confusing and completely unnecessary.

Amused at the contestants and fellow judges' reaction, the CEO decided that Jang Hyeon would certainly be an interesting addition to the group.

Finally done with singing, Jang Hyeon couldn't believe how much of his anxiousness leaked through his voice, that he practically didn't feel any anymore. That was a good thing. He couldn't possibly be nervous during his dancing. That would be awful.

Glancing at the CEO, he watched him nod.

He knew what that meant.

It was time for him to dance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! What's your opinion on Jang Hyeon so far? Does he feel OOC? I think he feels OOC. He doesn't have much of a set personality so far, so I pretty much made up most of it right now. If you happen to read this when he does have more backstory shown, and I'm completely wrong, then whoops. I guess I'm not very good at predicting personalities. 
> 
> I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to read first? Well, you have no choice, but to read the bad news first. The bad news is that I won't be able to update for four days... I'm going on a camping trip and I won't have any service. I don't have any premade chapters either, so I can't post the four chapters now... The good news! When I come back, I'll write the four missing chapters and post them along with the chapter of the day!! Yay! 
> 
> Thank you for the comments!!
> 
> That's all for now! See you in four days!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black-haired male gets spotlight.

Jang Hyeon got into position.

It was finally time to show what he’s best at.

Dancing.

If he didn’t say the wrong word, he would’ve danced sooner.

He was kind of glad that he messed up. He felt more prepared now. Getting rid of what he wasn’t very good at first, did wonders.

Besides, there was a saying that went along the lines of, “Saved the best for last.”

Automatically shifting zones, he got into full concentration mode.

Waiting for the music, he gets into position.

Listening for his cue, he starts after counting up to three seconds.

Facing his body to the right, he bends his knees and backbone. Continuously giving small kicks, his arms are stretched out near his knees. Making a swimming motion to place his arms in an open position, he moves the top part of his body up before gradually lifting his arms. Turning his body to the left, he bends and does the same move again.

Barely lifting his leg, he places it back down before moving his chest a little outwards while placing his hands on his chest and moving his hands sideways. His hands off his chest, he goes back into an open position.

While he was dancing, everyone seemed entranced by the swift and smooth transitions between each dance move. His dancing went beautifully with the music and was somewhat drawing them in.

Despite being rivals, the other contestants didn’t even care that they were admiring some other contestant. They even started to slowly forget that they were at an audition.

Some managed to snap out of it and instinctively showed that they were obviously “not impressed” with his performance. The others couldn’t care enough to show any discomfort with the boy’s dance moves. Not like they had any discomfort in the first place.

The CEO has kept an eye on Jang Hyeon for as long as he could remember. From what he has seen from him, he didn’t expect anything less from the pink-haired boy

Silently going through his choices while staring at the boy, he makes up his mind.

The final decision made, he smiled.

Things were going to get interesting.

From the looks of the black-haired male next to Jang Hyeon, he thought the same thing.

* * *

 

The black-haired male wore a hood, managing to cover the top part of his face.

Standing outside of a tall building, he stared.

The building was known as one of the more famous buildings on the street. Which made sense as the agency held one of the more famous idols in the K-Pop industry. Idols like GD.

Staring at it for a few more seconds, he heads his way inside. Passing the counter, he didn't bother greeting the people behind it. Going inside the elevator, he hears one of the idol’s songs managed from the agency. Waiting, the elevator stopped on his floor.

Walking passed plenty of doors, he arrives at a room. Double checking that he got the right place, he knocked.

Not a single second had passed when a deep voice answered.

“State your business.”

Not bothering to answer correctly, he states:

“It’s me.”

The person didn’t hesitate as he unlocked the door. Opening the door, he glanced at the boy in front of him before letting the boy in.

The black-haired boy walked inside and looked around. Examining the room, he took a seat before taking off his hood. Getting comfortable in his chair, he continued to look for someone.

The room resembled a business meeting. Everyone was wearing formal clothes except for the person in the head chair.

The head of the group wore a suit, not a single wrinkle to be seen, somewhat making him more intimidating. His face hidden, covered by the light from the window behind him.

Meeting eyes with the man, the black-haired male sat up straight.

The intimidating man intertwined his hands:

“Did you find anyone?”

The atmosphere got heavy. Anticipation in the air, everyone turned towards him. Expecting important news, they stared at the boy.

The boy stares back at them. As if contemplating, he stayed silent. Making up his mind, the edges of his lips went up. His smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“I have someone in mind.”

* * *

 

Small Hyung Seok sat in his room, talking to his mother on the phone.

Smiling, he listened to his mother’s curiosity as she asked a question after question.

“How are you?”

“Are you doing well?”

“How’s your friend?”

Waiting for her to take a break from asking questions, he answered them.

“I’m doing well.” Glancing at his other body, he continued, “Hyung Seok is sleeping right now.”

He still felt a little weird talking to his mother in third person, but he couldn’t just tell her that they were the same person.

Not yet, anyway.

Hearing his mother sound all happy, he listened as she asked what his plans were.

Thinking about the audition, he wondered if he would get accepted. Not knowing how long it’ll take to find out about the results, he guesses that it’d take a while. Not sure what a while was, he answered:

“I’ve been busy with work lately. There has been an increase in customers appearing… I don’t know how long it’ll take for it to start settling down.”

He felt bad for lying to his mother, but he couldn’t tell her that he was auditioning to be a K-Pop idol. She would believe that it was his small body doing it, but that’d be wrong and impossible in his current body.

Frowning at the statement, he stared at his legs.

_Was it impossible in this body?_

He couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he started to exercise more.

Was it possible to lose weight in his original body?

If he managed to lose weight, would he still be unattractive to others?

Would he look like his handsome body?

The questions were endless, yet none of them were answered.

He managed to exercise in his original body a few times, but with his work and sleep schedule, the process was slow.

He didn’t really care if he lost weight or not, but his curiosity and others judging, sometimes made him think otherwise.

Sighing, he decided that it was time to call it a day.

There was no point thinking about the impossible.

* * *

 

**_If only I realized that it wasn’t impossible sooner._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay!! I'm back!!! The four missing chapters will slowly come back. Like, tomorrow, instead of one update, I'll update twice. Then the next day, I'll update twice again. I'll do that for two more days. The missing days will be as if it never existed!
> 
> Also, congrats to all of you who survived this far! I know that I'm going at a slow pace, but I like it slow, so... yeah. Congrats on surviving this long!! 
> 
> Thanks for the comment, Parky_Sinner and Sprixy! I'm glad that you love it, Parky_Sinner (even though it could be better, because I'm kind of rushing my writing since I try to update every day...)!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More audition stuff, but an intro for the final audition!!

Sitting in his living room, Jae Yeol played with his puppies. Smiling, he let them go over him as he pretended that he was utterly defenseless to let the puppies have more fun.

After playing for a few more minutes, he got tired before he laid on his back.

The puppies didn't seem to notice or care that their master was taking a break as they continued to surround him; either running or licking him.

During his break, his butler came into the room.

Holding a towel and wearing his typical brown suit, he announced, "Young master, your mail has arrived."

Jae Yeol immediately sat up at that, his tiredness leaving him.

It was time to see the results.

* * *

 

Jang Hyeon was practicing in the trainees' room when the CEO came in.

The results have been made.

Everyone stood up, anticipating the moment they hear the outcome of the audition.

The CEO stood before them before clearing his throat, "I will announce the contestants who passed. However, only the ones currently present will be said." Staring at the trainees, he continued, "That's right. People who aren't even trainees yet, did better than some of you."

Hearing that, they gulped, already fearing the outcome.

The scarred man announced:

"Trainees: Chi Hoon," a brown-haired male let out a relieved sigh, "Jiho," a male with black shoulder-length hair smiled, "Tae Jun," a black-haired male's ears perked up, "-and Jang Hyeon have passed the first round."

The ones who weren't mentioned nearly fell on their knees, devastated.

This was their last chance to debut.

Some of them were already nearing the expiration date of their contracts. A part of the group was starting to get too old to be a part of a rookie group. The rest wanted to debut as a group since they became trainees, but already started to lose hope in debuting when they heard the results.

Jang Hyeon couldn't stop his ecstatic smile from reaching his face.

His dream was finally starting to come true. Now, he was only a few steps away from his goal.

Watching the reactions of everybody else, his eyes stopped on Tae Jun.

Staring at him, he noticed the look on his face.

Disbelief.

Jang Hyeon didn't seem to notice what the expression meant as he was distracted from the overwhelming feelings he felt.

Going in front of his friend, he showed him his fist.

Tae Jun seemed to snap out of it as he stared at his fist.

Blinking, his eyes met with Jang Hyeon's.

Seeing his friend's smile, he couldn't help smiling back as he bumped fists with him.

"Congrats on making it in, Jang Hyeon."

Jang Hyeon's smile stayed, "Same to you, Tae Jun."

Satisfied with how the day went, he got his stuff; ready to leave the practice room. Jang Hyeon said his goodbyes to his friend before Tae Jun did the same.

Elated, Jang Hyeon failed to notice a black-haired male staring at him, impassive, while thinking:

_He made it..._

* * *

 

Vasco and Bum Jae stared at their envelopes.

It held the final decision of the audition.

Vasco's hand trembled as he held his envelope.

Eyes focused, he turned his gaze towards Bum Jae.

Despite not wanting to go through the audition in the first place, Bum Jae seemed to be just as nervous as Vasco; he was better at hiding it, though.

Bum Jae noticed his stare as he stared back before nodding.

Somewhat knowing when the other would open their envelope, they ripped it open at the same time.

Vasco would've been impressed and thought about their 'telepathy', but he was too focused, making his mind only think about the results.

Both opened their paper, stalling to see what was written on it.

Mentally preparing themselves, they read it.

* * *

 

Jin Sung came home to an envelope on his desk.

Recognizing it, he immediately grabbed the envelope. Not hesitating to open it, he ripped it open.

The only thought going through his mind was that if he got in, Mi Jin would like him.

Tearing it open, he stared at the results.

Reading it, he couldn't stop the overwhelming emotions from flowing through him.

* * *

 

Big Hyung Seok had checked his mail the moment he got back to school.

Surprised to see something not related to money, he grabbed his mail. Blinking at the words on it, he ran inside his house.

Staring at his envelope with sheer intensity, his shaking hands opened it.

Reading the contents of the letter, his eyes widened.

He passed.

* * *

 

In the building of DY agency stood the final contestants.

All waiting for the CEO.

While waiting for him, the contestants stared at the people inside of the room.

Only eight people in total passed.

Some were surprised that a lot had passed while the rest thought that it was smaller than they thought.

While checking people out, three people couldn't stop from silently gawking at a certain person's looks.

Hyung Seok.

They knew that DY agency took pride in picking one of the more good-looking people, but the boy was beyond that. He was one of the more handsomest people they've ever seen that they were left breathless.

Looks like their rivals were more challenging than they thought.

They all observed their rivals while half of them were surprised to find familiar faces.

The door opened, making them temporarily stop their observation as they turned towards the person.

The CEO.

The sunglasses wearing man stared at them.

Not wasting any more time, he read off his list of final contestants:

"Chi Hoon," the boy answered, "Present."

"Jiho," the long-haired male smiled, "Here."

"Tae Jun," the CEO had to stare at the said boy, wondering about something.

The male answered, "Present, Sir."

As if dismissing the thought, he continued, "Jang Hyeon."

He gave off his more better smiles, "Here."

"Hyung Seok."

Hyung Seok was kind of not paying attention, so the moment he heard his name, he stuttered:

"H-here!"

The CEO ignored the stutter and went on, "Eun Tae."

"Here, CEO, Sir."

The weird greeting made the CEO stare at the boy for a while before brushing it off as nothing, "Jin Sung."

The pompadour-haired boy smirked, "Here."

"Jae Yeol."

Jae Yeol didn't say anything, but instead, nodded.

The CEO stared at him before remembering that he wasn't going to talk. At all.

Turning his gaze on Hyung Seok, he waited for him to say something.

Hyung Seok caught on as he frantically answered, "Jae Yeol's here!"

The others wondered why he answered for him, but didn't care enough to question why.

The CEO couldn't stop a small smile from slipping onto his face before managing to wipe it off.

"And Bum Jae."

Bum Jae nodded, "Here."

The CEO nodded before closing his list.

"Seems like everybody's here."

Everyone stilled, waiting for the next announcement.

The final audition.

"For the final audition, you'll have to form a group from the people here."

They all stared at each other, surprised that they'll have to work with people so soon.

Continuing, the CEO cleared his throat to gain their attention, "That means that you can't use any of the failed contestants or someone you know who didn't even audition."

Staring at them, his sunglasses gleamed, "You have until tomorrow to find your group members. After that, you have two more days to make up a group greeting and possibly, if you want more of a chance to debut, you'll have to prepare a performance in a week."

"If you happen to finish early, you can show what you have earlier. If not, we'll meet in a week."

Waiting for the words to kick in, he continued after a few seconds.

"If you have any questions, you can read the paper you were handed the moment you entered the room." He gave a dismissive move of his hand, "You are dismissed."

The moment they left the room, the delayed reactions started to appear as their eyes widened.

Observing the other auditionees, the atmosphere grew awkward.

Seems like the audition was going to be much harder than they thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm late in my update... Sorry? I might update another chapter soon, but maybe not since it's already 12:40 AM... It's been awhile since I wrote two days in a row, so I kind of wrote this chapter late. Sorry! I'm starting to get used to it again, though! Also, when I copy things from Microsoft Word, it shows extra stuff and replaces my quotation marks and apostrophes with other weird stuff when I paste it somewhere other than Word... I think it's because I updated something without bothering to think of the consequences... I'm so sad right now. I have to paste it to Note before I can copy and paste it here (I know that's not much work added, but the fact that it added to the things I had to do to post this, makes me sad)...
> 
> Thanks for commenting, Sprixy! Glad that someone actually likes seeing my updates!


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> GROUP FORMED!!

Hyung Seok stared in front of him.

He didn't know it was this easy to make a group. He thought that there would be people complaining and arguing about their group members, but surprisingly, none of that happened.

The people huddled around him were having a chat, a discussion even.

Realizing what they were talking about, Hyung Seok made sure that he was paying attention.

Jang Hyeon was reading the handout they were given by the CEO, Hyung Seok barely managed to hear the last words said.

"-and the group can't be any larger than six people."

The others gave their silent agreement.

They barely managed to have less than seven.

Jang Hyeon was kind of relieved that he didn't ask Tae Jun to join or else one of them would have to change groups.

Jang Hyeon observed his fellow group members.

Jin Sung was a boxer and good at fighting.

Vasco is the leader of Burn Knuckles and is good at fighting.

Jae Yeol is silent, other info is unknown.

Bum Jae is the coleader of Burn Knuckles and is pretty good at rapping.

Hyung Seok is good-looking, good at singing and fighting, and popular with the opposite gender.

Overall, only Hyung Seok and Bum Jae seemed promising at the moment.

Jang Hyeon sweatdropped, wondering if he'd be able to pass the audition with them.

Deciding to keep that thought in the back of his head, he continued talking, "Who's the leader?"

Jin Sung gave a smug look as he leaned more on one leg before closing his eyes and saying, "I'll be-"

"Hyung Seok should be the leader."

They turned their gaze on the source of the sound.

It was Vasco.

Jin Sung, irritated that he got interrupted, retorted. "No, I should be the leader."

While they were fighting, the other three members glanced over at Hyung Seok.

"What do you say, Park Hyung Seok? Do you accept the position?" Jang Hyeon smiled.

Jang Hyeon didn't really care who the leader was. As long as the leader was good, he wasn't complaining.

Hyung Seok didn't know what to say.

He didn't know what a leader did, so he couldn't really make a decision.

Indecisive, he asked, "How are group leaders usually decided?"

As if he was expecting this question, Jang Hyeon answered, "The leader is usually the oldest member, but seeing how we're all the same age, we can't choose by that. They can also be one of the longest trained members of the group, but I'm fine with not being the leader..."

"If this helps, the leaders generally speak the most, introduces and closes interviews for the group, and handle any blunders."

Giving a slight pause, Jang Hyeon smiled, "Is anyone up for the role?"

From the looks of it, Jin Sung seemed to not want to be the leader anymore when, "handle any blunders," was mentioned.

That left the role to the other members.

They all took their time to observe their choices.

Jae Yeol wasn't an option. He would be if he talked.

Vasco didn't really fit the role. He kind of gave off the unreliable feeling. The fact that he was showing off a child-like face, didn't help. They kept that to themselves, though.

Bum Jae didn't want to do it. It sounded troublesome. He already had Vasco to take care of and that was already a lot of work in the first place. He didn't want to add to his plate by having to worry about the others.

That left Hyung Seok and Jang Hyeon.

As Jang Hyeon said, he didn't care if he was the leader or not, but that also meant that he didn't mind being the leader. The fact that he was more knowledgeable in K-Pop than the rest of them, made it tempting to just give him the role. They still had to consider Hyung Seok, though.

They glanced at Hyung Seok.

Hyung Seok didn't know why they were even considering him as an option.

What could he do?

Jang Hyeon would be a better leader than him, and he's more knowledgeable too.

Minutes passed and no one said anything.

Jin Sung was starting to get annoyed. He wanted things to be over with so they could go on with other stuff. Getting more annoyed by the second, he decided for them:

"Jang Hyeon will be the leader and Hyung Seok can be the coleader."

The others seemed surprised that Jin Sung said something useful for once.

They didn't know if a coleader existed for K-Pop, but they didn't need to know that.

Jang Hyeon didn't bother telling them that there wasn't a coleader in K-Pop groups, so he could go on with the next thing.

"With that done, I guess we'll have to think about our group name next."

Jin Sung raised an eyebrow, "Group name? Weren't we supposed to think of a greeting?"

He nodded, "Yes, but we need a group name so we can make the greeting."

Jin Sung didn't ask any further as he figured he'd understand later in the future.

Vasco raised his hand.

Jang Hyeon raised an eyebrow, but called on him anyway.

Hearing his name, Vasco's eyes glowed as his smile grew happy, "Burn Knuckle."

They sweatdropped. They couldn't let Vasco name the group after his crew. Besides, what kind of K-Pop group is called Burn Knuckle?

They didn't know how to break the news to him as he was making it hard for them to say that the name was terrible.

Luckily, Bum Jae did the work for them, "Vasco... We can't name the group after our crew."

Vasco blinked, "Why not?"

Thinking of something on the spot, he continued, "You'd be replacing our crew then. You can't be a part of more than one Burn Knuckle group."

Vasco made a face of understanding, "That makes sense."

Sighing in relief, the rest now knew that they couldn't let Vasco name the group.

Some gave up, and started watching the rest deal with the hard thinking stuff as they did nothing.

Jang Hyeon's eyes widened a little before placing his fist on his hand, "Ah."

They turned towards him, expecting a good answer.

"What about QUADRAPLE JEH?"

"QUADRAPLE J?"

Nodding, he continued, "Since Jin Sung, Jae Yeol, Bum Jae, and I have a J in our name, then the EH is part of the J sound."

They stared blankly at him.

It was a nice idea, but it felt like something was missing.

"Sorry, I don't think that gives off the right feeling, Jang Hyeon..." Hyung Seok apologized for them.

Jang Hyeon sighed before placing his fingers through his hair, "I was thinking the same thing."

The rest didn't have any ideas as they stared at the ground, trying to think of names.

After a few minutes had passed, Hyung Seok thought of an idea.

"Um..."

They turned their gaze on him, not expecting much since their ideas have been bad so far.

"What about Lookism?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!! As you can see in this chapter, we're finally on the naming of the group! Since this name will stay with them throughout the rest of the fanfic, I want it to be good. I can still change my mind on the name until I update tomorrow, so I'm going to take some recommendations (unless no one recommends anything...)! Also, I decided not to update twice in a day since I can barely update a chapter on time... Sorry if that upsets you! I might end up updating twice in the future for different reasons, though.
> 
> Thank you, autumnseasons!! I'll make sure I do!!


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Group name and greeting!!!

"What about Lookism?"

They stared at Hyung Seok with widened eyes.

"Look... ism?"

Hyung Seok gave off a nervous laugh as he rubbed his neck, "Yeah, it's just a thought, though..."

They continued to stare at Hyung Seok, wondering if they were supposed to know what the word meant.

Assuming that they were supposed to know the meaning, Jin Sung started to act like a know-it-all, "Lookism is that thing, right...? Yeah, it means that. Lookism."

In the inside, he was thinking:

_What does lookism even mean?!_

Bum Jae couldn't help staring at Jin Sung, sweatdropping,  _Nice try..._

As the others wondered what the word meant, Jang Hyeon searched something on his phone. Reading it over, he said:

"Lookism: construction of a standard for beauty and attractiveness, and judgments made about people based on how well or poorly they meet the standard."

Jin Sung took that moment to say, "Yeah, it meant that! I knew that..."

While they ignored Jin Sung's poor attempt, they considered making it as their group name.

Managing to come up with an idea, Bum Jae gave his opinion, "What if we said it in English?"

Jang Hyeon raised his eyebrows, "In English...? That's actually a good idea."

Looking at the ground, he scratched his chin before adding, " _Look... ism_?"

They couldn't help the feeling of admiration go through them as they stared at Jang Hyeon.

Jang Hyeon raised an eyebrow, "What?"

Brushing their surprise off, he got a piece of paper out, and wrote, " _Lookism_ " on it.

He hummed, hand on chin before commenting, "It's a bit long..."

Tilting his head at a small angle, an idea popped inside of his head. Not wasting any more time, he quickly wrote it down.

" _LKM_."

Curious, the others peeked over his shoulder to see what he wrote.

Seeing the letters, they couldn't stop their lips from lifting.

* * *

 

After an hour of discussing their group greeting with many ideas getting shot down, Jang Hyeon finally decided to show what he had thought of.

He stood in front of his group members, "How about this?"

Closing his eyes, he mentally prepared himself. Prepared, he opened them, and gave off his best smile:

"Hello! Beauty is only skin deep."

Placing the space in between his thumb and index finger of his left hand under his chin while turning his head, he chanted, "We are  _Lookism_!"

They made a sound of amazement; Hyung Seok and Vasco clapping at the beautiful demonstration of their greeting.

In the midst of awe, Hyung Seok turned his head towards Jae Yeol.

"That was a nice demonstration, right, Jae Yeol?"

Jae Yeol, surprised that Hyung Seok turned towards him, nodded.

"Like this?"

Hearing Jin Sung talk, they turned their gaze in his direction.

Doing the greeting, he smirked when he placed the space in between his fingers under his chin, "We are  _Lookism_!"

Amused, Jang Hyeon nodded, "Exactly."

Seeing them practicing their greeting, Vasco decided to join in.

During the greeting, Vasco had this happy-like expression on his face the whole time. When he finished doing it, Vasco looked 10x happier, happy that he's doing something with his friends.

Satisfied with how his greeting went, Vasco turned his head towards Bum Jae, expecting him to do it too.

Not able to say no, Bum Jae reluctantly did the greeting with a strained smile.

Before they can waste any more time, Jang Hyeon coughed in his hand.

When he got their attention, he smiled, "Since we finished the greeting..." His smile turned devilish:

"It's time for the dancing choreography."

* * *

 

In the spare training room of DY agency,  _Lookism_  had their hands on their knees, panting.

They all glanced at the still-in-good condition, Jang Hyeon with envy.

Jang Hyeon was currently drinking water from his water bottle, hydrated.

They couldn't help eyeing the water bottle with thirsty eyes, mouths watery and their sweat dripping off their skin.

Jang Hyeon seemed to notice the stares before he smiled.

The smile seemed angelic to the others as they were expecting him to do something nice; only for him to ruin it by saying, "I'm not sharing. You have to provide your own water bottle."

Staring in disbelief, some thought:

_He's the devil!_

Glancing at the clock, the pink-haired male blew on his whistle, "Back to practice!"

They groaned, standing up. They've been dancing for a few hours now, and they barely had any break time.

Continuing to groan, they wondered if they'll survive.

Once the music played, Jang Hyeon danced in front of them, but faced them and mirrored the dance moves; his hawk eyes activated.

Watching for any wrong movements, his eyes glowed when someone messed up a dance move.

Stopping the music, he brought the person up front.

"Vasco! No, no, no, no! You turn left of Park Hyung Seok and Hong Jae Yeol, not their right."

Vasco had been doing surprisingly well with the hard dance moves. That could only be said with the hard moves since when it was time to move opposite directions and doing their own separate dance moves; he sometimes messed up.

Vasco nodded, understanding.

Doing the dance moves again, Jang Hyeon deemed it good enough, and went onto the next dance move.

Facing slightly to his left, he had his hands behind his back.

Placing the arms in front of him, he did a smooth movement with his legs by making a small sway sideways.

Giving small, slow steps that somewhat moved his legs outward a little, he places his hands near his chest before speeding up and lowering his hands.

Kicking his right leg out, he placed it back down before moving his arms out in front of him, a little lower than shoulder level.

Doing that, he bent back a little and placed his arms down while lifting his right leg up, straight. In slow movements, he places the leg back down and kneels a little; arms at side. Grabbing his jacket with both hands, he starts to unbend his knees before moving his jacket to his elbows and smoothly leaning towards the front.

Deciding that that was enough dance moves, he stands back up.

It was time to teach the dance moves to his temporary students.

Staring at them, he decided on what their placements were going to be.

"I want Park Hyung Seok," Jae Yeol's ears twitched, "...to stand in the middle."

Hearing the rest, Jae Yeol almost punched himself for reacting. Looking around, he saw that no one noticed. Pretending that nothing happened, he went back to stare at Jang Hyeon, only to see him staring back at him.

Giving a sly smile, Jang Hyeon pointed next to Hyung Seok, "Hong Jae Yeol, stand next to Park Hyung Seok."

Suspicious, Jae Yeol obliged, nonetheless.

Ignoring Jae Yeol for now, Jang Hyeon continued to place them in their spots.

Bum Jae was behind Hyung Seok, but more on the left, to be seen. Vasco was next to him, behind Jae Yeol, but more on the right. Jin Sung was in the very back, in the middle.

Jin Sung felt smug for being in the middle until he realized that Jang Hyeon was going to be in the front, blocking his view.

Not taking notice of Jin Sung's irritation, Jang Hyeon looked at the mirror to make sure he could see his four group members.

He'll watch Jin Sung when he turns around to double check their dance moves.

Playing the slower version of the music, he did the same movements again, but made sure the others were doing the right moves.

"Here, you move as if you're walking, but giving off a smooth feeling. To give off a smooth feeling, you'll have to move your leg up, but make sure it covers your other leg before moving the leg back, next to your other one."

Making sure the others were doing it right, he continued, "Next, you move a little faster in your steps while swaying a little to the left, then right. Then, you move your right leg up before placing it back down while giving a slight bend of your knees."

Stopping the music, he turned towards them, "Think you can go that far?"

They nodded, surprised on how easy it was to dance the moves when someone was telling you how to do it step by step.

Before they danced, they didn't think that Jang Hyeon was going to be a good teacher.

Not only were they wrong, but he was descriptive, and made sure that everyone was doing the right moves before going onto the next step.

Doing the rest of the steps, they managed to finish the taught moves.

Watching the others dance the moves a few more times, Jang Hyeon glanced at the clock before saying, "Ah. It's time to go."

The others lifted their heads and cheered while some whispered, breathless, "Finally..."

Jang Hyeon wiped off his sweat, "Too bad... We only got halfway through the song."

_We were only halfway?!_

Jang Hyeon turned towards them and smiled, "Oh, well. It was nice practicing with you." Turning around, he waved, "See you guys tomorrow at 8 o'clock in the morning."

As if giving a last minute warning, he glanced back, "Don't be late."

Like that, Jang Hyeon left the exhausted boys, still in pretty good condition.

They stared at the door.

Some were too tired to think of anything, but the ones who weren't, thought:

_What did I get myself into?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late... Oops. Maybe I should just consider 12 AM as in time... Well, if you didn't notice, I'm going to italize the word, "lookism" when it's in English *whispers* since I want to be consistent. Anywho, do you guys have any ideas on what the fandom should be called? I was thinking of "lookers" since they are fans of Lookism or LKM and are beautiful in their own way.
> 
> P.S. Some of you may have not noticed, but remember when Hyung Seok met with Jang Hyeon at school and it said, "I was wrong. So wrong." Haha... It was for this moment... Funny, huh? That just shows that some of those comments aren't as serious as you think... Some...


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FBC!!!!!!!

The time has come to show their results to the CEO.

Walking through glass doors, the six boys went to the counter.

The ladies didn't bother to glance up as they assumed that the people were fans. The fans going through those doors to chance their way to see their favorite idol(s) were numerous to the point that the ladies learned to politely lead them to the exit. However, they knew that they had to at least pretend that they were going to hear them out.

Doing her job, one of the ladies continued to type on her keyboard as she asked:

"How may we help you?"

Not fazed by the lack of attention they were giving them, Jang Hyeon smiled, "We're here to see the CEO."

The lady furrowed her eyebrows. Stopping her typing, she slowly glanced up, "I'm sorry, but the CEO is bus-"

The pause in her coworker's voice, made the other temporarily stop her phone call to see what the silence was about. She gasped. Dropping her phone, she stared at the boys.

They were left speechless at the breathtaking sight before them.

In front stood six charismatic men. All stood with confidence, but not to the point that it felt arrogant. Despite having different styles and different types of appeal, they all managed to complement each other. 

The one in the center of the group was a pink-haired, good-looking man who gave off the flirt feeling.

Next to him stood a masculine, yet cute teenager, giving off a manly feeling.

The one who seemed to be close with him had big ears, but instead of being a disadvantage, it was a strong advantage as it complemented his face. He seemed friendly.

A delinquent-like male had his hands in his pockets, not particularly looking at anywhere specific. He seemed dangerous, but in a good way.

A blondie stood near the end, not standing out, but not completely unnoticed. His eyes being covered with his bangs, instead of being weird, only added to his already mysterious aura.

Last, but not least, stood one of the handsomest men they've ever seen. He kind of gave off the insecure feeling, but that didn't stop his posture from exuding charisma.

They called themselves...

 _Lookism_.

Gawking at the sight, the lady finally came back to her senses.

"U-uhm! Of course! I'll call him right now..."

Not able to keep her eyes off the boys, she dialed the CEO.

All of her attention stayed on the boys; making her almost miss the voice on the other line.

Hearing the familiar voice, she responded:

"S-sir, a group of boys want to see you."

* * *

 

The CEO observed the boys in front of him.

Noticing the clear aura change of the boys, he mentally smirked.

_Interesting._

The boys stood in a straight line in front of his table, hands behind their back. Glancing at their leader, they waited for him to do something.

With no further ado, Jang Hyeon stepped a little closer to the CEO's desk, a serious face on, "We're ready, CEO."

Hiding a smile behind his intertwined fingers, elbows on desk, he slowly moved his chair back.

Standing up, the scarred man walked towards the door.

"Follow me."

* * *

 

Arriving at the audition room, they caught sight of the other three auditionees.

Seems like they weren't the only ones prepared.

The CEO stood in front of the group, the boys surrounding him.

"Since everyone's here, we'll start with the ones who got here first." Turning towards the three boys, he continued, "That means you guys."

The six boys stood near the wall while the chosen three went towards the center.

The six, not sure if they can sit on the ground, glanced at Jang Hyeon. Seeing him stand with focused eyes, they figured that they weren't allowed to sit.

The three boys waited for the CEO's signal. Once everyone except for the three were not in the way, the CEO nodded:

"Show me what you got."

Knowing that they were supposed to great themselves first, they bowed, saying, "Hello!"

They stood back up, "All that glitters is not gold!" Placing their hand near their head, they do a hand explosion with their hand; hand closed at first, but opens immediately after.

"We are FBC!"

The CEO doesn't comment on their greeting. Nodding, he lets them know that they can move on.

Tae Jun stands in the middle, rubbing his neck with his hand, he sheepishly says, "Sir, we didn't prepare any dance moves." Hearing that, the CEO raised an eyebrow, "However, we did compose our own song."

The CEO seemed interested; he hummed, "Go on."

 _Lookism_ stared at the trio, worry starting to grow within them.

_They composed a song?_

_Even if they don't dance, the song might make the CEO favor them more..._

_We only did a cover!_

Smiling,  _FBC_  stood with Tae Jun in the middle, Chi Hoon – the brown-haired male – stood on his right while the other, Jiho – the one with long hair – was on his left.

Hearing the music play, they prepared themselves, microphones in hand.

After the intro played, Jiho opened his mouth.

Hearing his voice,  _Lookism_ couldn't help worrying.

He sounded nice. The way he started with the slight crescendo caught their attention too.

Jin Sung bit his lip:

_Crap! He's good._

After Jiho's turn had finished, Chi Hoon subtly took his spot in singing.

The smooth entrance almost swayed them. Almost. They wouldn't agree if someone asked them, though.

The fact that they almost immersed themselves in their singing, made them mentally hit themselves.

While they were listening, they glanced at their leader.

Jang Hyeon had his full attention on the trio, no panic to be seen. He didn't even realize that he was being stared at.

It was as if he was waiting for something or more like  _someone_ to start.

Going back to watching their performance, they wondered what Jang Hyeon was attentively waiting for.

Once Chi Hoon's short lines finished, they were on time to see Tae Jun sing.

His beautiful vocals made their eyes widened as they gaped.

He sounded just as good as the rest, but there was something else in his singing. They didn't know what, but the feeling was blowing them away.

Once they finished singing, the six almost clapped, but remembered where they were and who they were going to clap for. Halting their hands, they glanced over at Jang Hyeon.

His eyes were more focused than ever as if he was analyzing something in his mind.

Taking their eyes off him, they turned towards the CEO.

Seeing him stare at them, they knew what that meant.

It was their turn.

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since @TomboyGirlPlayer gave me plenty of ideas for the greeting, I decided to use one of them for FBC! Whoa! Also, the video is the actual people singing. Yup, that's right. The seemingly OCs of mine are actually real people. They are probably still considered OCs, though... Since I didn't really want to add OCs, I decided to just add more people that Tae Jun knew and him, himself! The video is called: Flower Men Corporation (꽃미남 주식회사) - 사랑찬가 or you can just type in "flower boys corporation love hymn", but it won't show you the exact/original video (someone re-posted it...).
> 
> Thanks for the comment, ChickenStrp!
> 
> Oh, and before I forget! I made some designs for their logo, but I don't know which one I should pick... Since I was bored, I made one for DY agency too. Please give me your opinion on them and which one you like/prefer the most!


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lookism first cover!!!!!!!!

The six walked towards the center, mentally preparing themselves for their performance.

As they went,  _FBC_ passed by them; Tae Jun bumping into Jang Hyeon's shoulder.

Glancing back, Jang Hyeon saw him staring at him; arms crossed.

He was full-on staring at him to the point that it felt uncomfortable.

Jang Hyeon knew what that meant.

Tae Jun was observing him, seeing if he's worthy or not. He didn't know why or for what he was being tested on, but he knew he didn't mistake that look. He would never mistake it.

Facing the CEO, they bowed, "Hello!" Standing back up, they smiled, "Beauty is only skin deep!"

Making an L with their thumb and index finger of their left hand, they place it under their chin, making it look more like a V, "We are Lookism!"

Seeing the CEO not comment like the way with FBC, they decide to go on.

Before the music played, they got into positions. Facing the back: Jin Sung, Jae Yeol, and Jang Hyeon stood in the back while the rest were on one knee – Vasco and Bum Jae in the middle row and Hyung Seok in the front; making it a pyramid formation.

Hearing the music, Jin Sung held his jacket's material and pulled it to his right. On beat, the other members did the same, one by one; Jae Yeol being the last one to do it, making it appear from left to right, then in the middle. While they were stretching out their jackets, they all sang, "Seventeen- teen teen."

Once everyone has done it, they all duck their head behind the outstretched jacket material. Slowly lifting their heads, they continued singing, "Say the name louder!"

Letting go of their jacket, the members on the ground stand up.

All standing, they hit their jacket material to the side.

Taking one step forwards, they lifted their arms up.

While they were lifting their arms up, Vasco and Bum Jae switched places; Bum Jae going to the left and Vasco to the right. Pulling it back down, they spread their legs apart, doing a slight jump. Landing on the ground, they stay in the same position, legs bending. While they were in that position, Jae Yeol jumps from the middle of the back row. In the front, Hyung Seok sings, "Come on!"

Once he reaches the ground – the group split in the middle – the one's on the right, lean towards the right while the rest go left. "Come on!"

Standing straight, Hyung Seok lightly hits his chest, "Come on!"

They move their arms out and jump on their side's direction.

While the rest were jumping out of his way, Jang Hyeon does a small spin and points while singing.

During his singing, he puts his hands together before doing a fancy hit of his right side of his jacket with his knees slightly bending. Now facing the right, he lifts his left leg up and places it back down.

While Jang Hyeon was singing, the ones who jumped out of the way, slowly leaned more on their side's direction. Jin Sung and Jae Yeol stand up once Jang Hyeon does the fancy hit and go next to him. The two walking forwards, Jang Hyeon goes backwards.

Seeing this happen before him, the CEO felt impressed.

The boys were covering "BOOMBOOM" by Seventeen.

Despite having obviously less members, they managed to dance the song with their six-member group; somehow not making it feel like it was missing something.

Continuing to watch  _Lookism_ they reached Jae Yeol's part.

Once he started singing – Vasco in the middle front and the rest facing their direction's corner – they put their left leg out, hands near their chest as they – excluding Jae Yeol – slowly leaned backwards. The ones who leaned backwards leaned forwards before they all grasp their jackets and move it down to their upper arm; Vasco closer to the ground than the rest of the members to let the standing Jae Yeol to be seen.

Once Jae Yeol sings, "Oh, oh." Everyone moves in their new formation. Pulling their shirt out with both hands, separately; they started pulling with their right hand then left, each pull having their own word sang at each repeated, "Boom." Stopping at the fifth boom, they repeat the same move once the "Boom" comes back.

Keeping his eyes on them, the CEO attentively listened.

_FBC_ glanced at the CEO at every other second; their thoughts unknown.

* * *

 

Three minutes and thirty seconds have passed.

Even though they barely finished performing, the CEO seemed to have made up his mind.

Clearly dragging it out, the scarred man continued to stare at the two groups; making anticipation fill the air.

Clearing his throat, the CEO's sunglasses shone. Turning towards  _FBC_ , the others thought they lost; their eyes prepared to drip with "water".

Hearing the CEO only ask them a question, the six members kept their composure.

"What does FBC stand for?"

The trio faced the CEO.

Tae Jun, being the leader, answered for them, "Flower Boys Corporation."

The sunglasses wearing man raised his eyebrow, saying his words slowly, "Flower Boys Corporation...?"

Tae Jun nodded, "Yes, sir."

The CEO seemed to have made up his mind right then and there.

Turning towards the six, he doesn't hesitate as he says, "Welcome to DY agency,  _Lookism_."

The trio felt "water" going through their face.

Sweat.

In the back of their heads, they knew that they should have picked a better name, but noooo. Jiho, the one with long hair, insisted that they kept the name for some reason.

They glanced at their competition. Seeing them grinning and one smirking, they couldn't help sighing in defeat.

_I guess we'll just have to try harder next time._

* * *

 

After they agreed on living in the dorm, they signed their contracts with a certain black-haired male having a few changes here and there. Once they double checked that they had everything, they packed their necessities and placed it in the trunk of the car. Since no one was available at the current moment, the CEO personally drove them there.

Arriving at the dorm, the members didn't know what was to come; except for Jang Hyeon, of course.

Walking through the halls, they entered the boys' room.  _Room._

Not mentioning any other places that the rest of the boys might possibly sleep at, the CEO talked about the rules and their schedule before leaving.

Once he left, they observed the room again.

Making sure that what they were seeing was real, they did a double take. Knowing for sure that it wasn't a delusion, they gaped.

The room didn't seem like it could fit all of them. Maybe a few, but certainly not all  _six_  of them.

Glancing at their leader, they were hoping he would say something about their small area given to them.

Feeling their stares, Jang Hyeon faced towards them.

Taking a while to process what their confusion meant, he answered, "Oh. I almost forgot."

Placing his stuff down, he smiled:

"Please take care of me from now on."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, we're already at chapter 20 and they're barely starting their K-Pop life. Wow, I'm slow. Since Lookism covered a K-Pop song without changing it, I put the video I based it off of on. If the dance scenes get longer and longer (or the same amount in this chapter), do you guys prefer a videos so it's easier to image? Also, apparently I'll be updating at 12 AM every day since that's what I've been doing lately...
> 
> Thank you for giving me your opinions on the logos and compliments, Sprixy, FangirlTrash, and ChickenStrp! Also, ChickenStrp, you flatter me too much! I'm happy to hear that I'm one of your favorite authors!
> 
> I still need a little more time to think about which logo to pick since all of the people who answered gave me different answers... I guess that's my fault for giving so many options. If you haven't given me your opinion yet, and you're considering it, please do!


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short scene of their days together and school. Yay.

Early in the morning, the sky still dark outside, an alarm clock resounded through the thin walls of a certain dorm room.

After a few seconds had passed, complaints started to start one after another.

The one closest to the alarm clock, Jin Sung, groaned as he turned it off.

Glancing at the time, it read, "6:30 AM"

Blinking, he rubbed his eyes. His eyes less blurry, he read it again.

It was the same time.

Quickly sitting up, he glanced around.

Everyone was still sleeping.

That wasn't a surprise as their choreography teacher, Jang Hyeon, made them learn new dance moves for both male and female K-Pop groups. The reason being unknown. The fact that they had to dance to female groups confused him, but he didn't question it; the others didn't either.

There was no point in questioning it as they were going to do it whether they liked it or not. To make it worse, not only were they sore from practicing for their audition earlier that morning, Jang Hyeon added to the pain as they didn't stop dancing until he felt that it was worthy enough.

By the time they finished, it was already three in the morning. The fact that they had to take a shower and get ready for bed, made them sleep even later. There was a limit on what they could do with two bathrooms, after all.

Back to Jin Sung. He didn't know if he was supposed to wake them up or not. It's not his responsibility if his fellow members are late to school.

Thinking over his options, he decides to wake them up... after getting ready.

Smirking at the idea of getting to use the bathroom first, he tiptoes through the small hallway leading to the bathroom.

Glancing around the room again, he takes a note of where every member is.

Laying on the couch was Jae Yeol. He looked quite peaceful while sleeping, his arm off the couch while his hand was his replacement for a pillow.

Seeing him, Jin Sung felt tempted to lift his bangs up, but figured that it would take too much time and could possibly wake the other up.

Continuing his way, he notices Hyung Seok near the couch on the ground.

He remembers the little conversation between those two on who can sleep on the couch but could only remember Hyung Seok talking to himself while the other franticly waved his hands in front of him.

Somehow, Hyung Seok, in one way or another, managed to win the argument between them. He wondered why the winner was sleeping on the ground, though.

Ignoring that for now, he turned his gaze to the opposite side to see Vasco and Bum Jae on the ground.

Vasco softly snored, his body tucked in a blanket. Wondering when Vasco got his hands on a blanket, he glanced at Bum Jae. He laid on his side, not facing Vasco's direction.

Not finding it weird, Jin Sung felt like he was missing someone as he turned his gaze back on where he was walking.

Realizing what he had forgotten in a split second, he saw the one he forgot.

In front of the door, Jang Hyeon laid in a fetal position; seemingly okay with sleeping in such a narrow hallway.

Jin Sung was surprised to see him there, however, the feeling was soon replaced with fear. He could've sworn Jang Hyeon's sleeping place was near the small kitchen area. Seeing him so far away from that area, slightly scared him.

Getting over the feeling, he now has a problem at hand.

How does he get passed him without waking him up?

Sure, he could just go to the other bathroom, but what would he do? His stuff was in the bathroom Jang Hyeon was currently blocking.

He could wake him up, but Jang Hyeon also happened to use the same bathroom.

Sweating a little, he makes the toughest decision in his life.

Silently wishing that the leader would let him use the bathroom first, he wakes him up.

However, instead of going for the gentle approach, he nudges him with his foot; hard.

In that moment, Jin Sung knew that he messed up.

* * *

 

Jin Sung sat in the back of the car, a bruise on his cheek.

Smiling apologetically, Jang Hyeon patted his back.

"Sorry, Lee Jin Sung. I didn't mean to punch you in the face," his smile changed, giving a dangerous feeling, "but you know... you could've woken me up gentler."

Jin Sung knew that he could beat Jang Hyeon if they were to fight, but he knew that Jang Hyeon has other approaches on making him regret it.

Making his dance moves harder.

He was already having a hard time with his current ones; if he were to be given harder ones, he knew that he wouldn't be able to handle it.

Not wanting that to happen, Jin Sung automatically bowed his head, "I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

Satisfied with his response, Jang Hyeon went back to his friendly smile, "Good to know that we both agree."

Arriving at the school, the six of them said their goodbyes to the driver before walking out of the car.

While leaving, their fellow students noticed them immediately.

"Are they the rumored new group?"

"They're so cool!"

"Che. I'm from the same company. What's so special about them?"

Walking passed them, the five of them ignored them on favor of getting to school on time. The one that didn't was Jang Hyeon. He got stopped by a group of girls.

The five glanced at him before continuing their way to school; there was no reason for them to wait for him.

* * *

 

In the cafeteria, the students were talking about the new topic.

The K-Pop group,  _Lookism_.

They weren't exactly talking about them, but instead, the video that was posted of them on the DY agency home page.

"Kyaaa! Hyung Seok is so good at dancing!"

"Vasco's surprisingly good at rapping."

"Jae Yeol is so cool! The mysterious vibe matches him perfectly!"

While the students were distracted, the six sat on one table with a few extra people sitting nearby.

Since they had a lot of different friends, the extras had to get their own table for their group; making that two in total.

Mi Jin stared at the group, her expression unreadable as usual. However, there was a hint of a certain emotion showing.

Loneliness.

"Hey, Kim Mi Jin."

Mi Jin glanced up at the caller.

Kim Yui.

"What do you think Jin Sung and the rest are talking about?"

Hearing her love rival, she turns her head, arms crossed with her eyes closed, "Hmph. Who knows..."

Despite acting as if she didn't care, her eyes opened to take one more peek at Jin Sung.

He seemed to notice her stare as he perked up and waved at her.

Seeing him with such a happy smile, she waved back. Unable to stop her lips from twitching, she gave him a small smile.

Jin Sung didn't miss the chance to express the feeling he got from that smile as he placed his hand over his heart.

While he was doing that, Hyung Seok noticed that he wasn't paying attention.

"Jin Sung?"

He reacts to his name being called, "What?"

Looking around, he saw that they were currently in some kind of meeting.

"We were being recorded?" Bum Jae asked as everyone leaned close to the center of the table.

"Did anyone know that there were cameras in the audition room?" Hyung Seok asked, joining the conversation.

Slightly raising his hand, Jang Hyeon got their attention, "I knew there were cameras in the training room, but I didn't know that the CEO would post the video..." Placing his hand on his chin, he continued, "Isn't this a good thing?"

The confusion on their faces made Jang Hyeon sigh:

"This will help spread our name out."

* * *

 

The CEO sat in his office room.

Staring at his computer screen, he smirked as he read the comments on the webpage.

"They're cute."

"Isn't he the one from Paprika?"

"He became a K-Pop idol?!"

"I'll root for them all the way!"

Lacing his fingers together with his elbows on the desk, he thought:

_It's time for the next step._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of forgot that I was planning on writing Jin Sung x Mi Jin in this fanfic (as you can tell from Mi Jin only appearing for the second time). Oh, and I posted an hour early! It's 11 now. Woah.
> 
> Thank you for the comment, Fangirltrash! I have such lovely readers! I'm not that great of an author... I'm glad that you think that way, though! Getting two people telling me such great things (my heart). Thanks for the compliment!
> 
> What should the Lookism members be called? Like, Eun Tae's stage name is Vasco. Hyung Seok will be Hyungseok. Jae Yeol... maybe J? Bum Jae, um, uhhhh, Bumjae? Jang Hyeon as Hyeon? Jin Sung as Jin (but there's already a Jin from BTS)?
> 
> If you guys have better ideas for their name, please tell me!


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More planning for group...

In the CEO's office, the scarred man sat in his chair, facing the lady in front of him.

"You understand, Miss Soo Jeong?"

A pretty lady in a striped suit stood professionally as she held piles of paper in her arms.

Smiling, Soo Jeong nodded, "Yes, sir."

A faint blush appeared on the CEO's cheeks as he coughed into his hands, "You're excused."

* * *

 

In their dorm room, the six sat on the ground.

A few minutes earlier, they had already agreed on what position they were, so now they were thinking about their stage name.

Jang Hyeon held the pencil's eraser near his lips, pondering with his head tilting to the side.

Eun Tae had already decided on using his nickname, Vasco, so he was just sitting down in the circle since he wanted to feel included.

Bum Jae was sitting there, not particularly caring what his name was. He did consider a few ideas, though.

Jae Yeol didn't say anything. However, Hyung Seok seemed to know what he chose as his stage name as he encouraged the idea.

Jin Sung wanted to flaunt his name as much as he could to get Mi Jin's attention, so he decided to keep his real name.

While thinking about Mi Jin, his thoughts started to turn negative. At the thought of someone taking Mi Jin away from him, the bad guy he envisioned was Hyung Seok. Feeling threatened, Jin Sung glared at Hyung Seok as he thought about something.

Hyung Seok, oblivious of the glare directed at him, kept his attention on his own thoughts. Instead of thinking about his stage name, he wondered why everyone was so serious. They could just use their real name.

Why did they have to think so seriously about their decision?

He, himself, didn't decide a name yet, but he figured that even if he did think of some, he'd end up with his original name in the end.

Almost an hour had passed when everyone had decided on their name.

Having written their stage names on the paper, Jang Hyeon nodded in agreement.

He glanced at everyone, "For practice purposes, let's introduce ourselves."

Seeing no objections, he urged everyone to stand up.

Once everyone was up, he counted before they all chanted, "Hello!"

Bowing, they went back up, "Beauty is only skin deep!"

Making an L with their thumb and index finger of their left hand, they place it under their chin, "We are Lookism!"

Giving off his best smile, Jang Hyeon greeted, "Hello! I'm the leader and lead vocalist, Eli!"

Giving a somewhat awkward yet adorable smile, Hyung Seok added, "I'm the main vocal, Hyungseok!"

Hearing a sudden pause, they glanced at Hyung Seok's side.

It was Jae Yeol.

They weren't as prepared as they thought they were.

Knowing that Jae Yeol had his reasons for not talking, Hyung Seok wondered if he should introduce him instead.

Seeing Jang Hyeon's disapproval, he went back to stare at his blond friend.

Jae Yeol didn't know what to do.

This wasn't a part of his plan. Jae Yeol never thought that he would have to greet himself one day; especially not as a K-Pop idol.

Thinking of ways to get out of this, the others continued to stare at him.

Observing him, Jang Hyeon thought of an idea, "Hey, Hong Jae Yeol."

He turned his head towards him.

Catching his attention, Jang Hyeon continued, "Couldn't you just sing your greeting?"

Everyone blinked.

_That's a smart idea..._

Seemingly fine with that idea, Jae Yeol nodded.

Jang Hyeon, glad that they got that out of the way, gestured for Jae Yeol to say – or sing – his greeting.

Everyone's eyes on him, they watched his mouth open as the first note came out.

"I'm the other main singer, J~"

Jae Yeol's voice was pure angelic.

His singing didn't sound that much different from talking. The only difference was that it had more of a singing flow than a talking one. To add to that, the way he sang his greeting was nice too, cute even.

From the looks of it, they were hit with awe if the way their wide eyes and opened mouths meant anything.

This was everyone's – excluding Hyung Seok – first time hearing him sing, after all.

Hearing his voice again, Hyung Seok felt a familiar feeling.

Furrowing his eyebrows, he looked at his chest area, thinking:

_It's this feeling again..._

Hearing Vasco and Jang Hyeon complimenting Jae Yeol's voice, he snapped out of his slight trance.

"Woah, that's a nice voice, Hong Jae Yeol."

Seeing Jae Yeol turn a little bashful, Jang Hyeon couldn't help adding the next sentence, "The way you sang it was cute too."

That made Jae Yeol give off a small blush.

"Oh – he's blushing!"

Now that Hyung Seok thought about it, the way Jae Yeol's angelic voice gave off a slightly cute feeling made him want to tease him as well.

He stopped himself from doing that, though.

_I can't possibly tease, Jae Yeol... Don't you have to be at a certain level of friendliness to tease each other?_

Jin Sung and Bum Jae just stood in the distance, wondering what was happening and why everyone started to get all mushy-mushy with each other.

Deciding to finish this, Bum Jae cleared his throat, "Shouldn't we continue the greetings?"

Falling out of his teasing mode, Jang Hyeon blinked, "Oh yeah. We were doing that, huh."

Turning his gaze on Vasco, he nodded, letting him finally say his greeting.

Radiant, Vasco happily continued the greetings, "I'm the main rapper, Vasco!"

Next to him, Bum Jae gave off his best smile, "I'm the other main rapper, Jace."

Last, but certainly not least, Jin Sung smirked, "Lead rapper, Jinsung."

Some might think that Jin Sung would be disappointed with being the lead instead of the main rapper. However, it was Jin Sung's choice to be the lead.

His reason being: the lead sounded cooler.

Pleased with how things went, Jang Hyeon clapped.

Adding a completely unnecessary comment, he smiled:

"I'm glad that you guys didn't choose stupid stage names."

Jin Sung felt personally offended at that, "Why? Did you think that we had terrible tastes in naming?"

"Yes."

Hearing his blunt response, Jin Sung slightly faltered. Trying to think of something to say, Jin Sung stood there.

Trying to break off the small dispute, Hyung Seok smiled, "You don't have to think so hard if you can't think of a better comeback, Jin Sung."

Seems like that wasn't the best thing to say.

"Huh? What did you say, Hyung Seok?" Jin Sung gave off his pissed-off, strained smile.

Blinking, Hyung Seok tried to correct himself, "Ah – I didn't mean to say that–"

Hearing their door unlock, their little fight was put to a halt.

The door opening, they put themselves on guard; waiting for a dangerous person to appear.

Seeing the person, the uneasiness instantly changed into confusion.

It was a woman.

Walking inside of the room, she smiled:

"Hello. I'm your manager, Soo Jeong."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you to ChickenStrp and FangirlTrash for giving me ideas! In the end, I decided to use both American and original versions as their stage names. Since I like the idea of Jae Yeol having a letter name like V from BTS, L from Infinite, and N from VIXX, I kept it!
> 
> Thanks for the comment, GreenJuiceLavaJuice! I'm sure the fans would react that way... In fact, I was actually planning on writing a reaction chapter of them reading certain fanfics that may or may not exist (there's not many, after all...)!
> 
> Also, if I happen to put a variety show on, would you guys want it like how they usually are? Like, the episodes for shows are usually 20-30 min. to an hour long. If you guys want, I could make my chapters longer depending on how long the show takes. However, it'll take a long time until I put any variety shows on...
> 
> For the first variety show, should it be either 1. Weekly Idol? 2. A Song For You? 3. Celebrity Bromance? 4. We Got Married? 5. None of the above, because you want a different variety show.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Learning languages and stuff.

Soo Jeong, arms crossed, stood next to her bodyguard – who had arrived three minutes late. She didn't bother lecturing him as he didn't necessarily have to be there; her father just wanted him with her at all times. She was actually relieved that he wasn't there at first, but of course, that was short-lived.

She observed the six as they danced and sang a song.

_Hmm... They're better than I thought..._

They were better than most people, but from an eye that has seen plenty of good performances, it felt like it was lacking in a few areas.

Seeing them finish, she asks, "Did you dance to a recent rookie group's song? I don't recognize any of the dance moves."

Jang Hyeon smiled, "I made it myself." Wiping his sweat off, he added, "I'm the dance choreographer."

Her eyes widened.

Interested, she continues to ask questions, "How long have you practiced?"

"This song? Hmm... a week?"

Shocked, she gaped, "Did you make this song?"

He nodded, "We got a little help from Hyung Seok's friend, Duk Hwa, but other than that, we made the lyrics and dance moves by ourselves."

From the way they performed, she had thought that they were practicing with a song from a mini album of a new group. She didn't think that they made everything by themselves with a little help of a regular from her site, Paprika.

Getting a hold of herself, she mentally shakes her head.

Clearing her throat, she gave off her professional aura, "Have you been learning Japanese, Chinese, and English?"

Seeing everyone's, excluding Jang Hyeon's, confused expression, she took that as a no.

She double-checked their schedule before handing them out:

"This is your schedule until next month. If you can do everything right and show obvious improvement,  _Lookism_  can debut in three months... which is quite fast for a group with only one experienced trainee and the rest being amateurs."

She glanced at them, "Even though you guys passed the final audition, it doesn't mean that you're free from getting kicked out at the last second, so please do make sure that you practice."

The atmosphere grew tense at that.

"Are there any questions?"

Seeing none, she continued, "I'll come back in a week to do a regular check on your singing, dancing, acting, and language improvement. I'll also be checking on what you've been eating and if you're properly exercising."

Checking them out, she added, "Since you guys are already seventeen years old, I'm guessing that you don't need to have sex education or etiquette lessons."

Seeing them shake their heads, she excused herself.

The moment she left with her bodyguard, they managed to get a hold of their breath.

The way she did everything professionally made them stand at attention as if she were a teacher giving them a lecture. The fact that she had an intimidating bodyguard, didn't help.

"...Am I the only one who felt like the bodyguard seemed familiar?" Jin Sung questioned as he glanced at his group members.

Everyone else didn't seem to agree, however, it was a different case for Hyung Seok and Vasco.

Hyung Seok was surprised that he's been seeing her a lot more often than he thought; especially as their manager.

Vasco was shocked to see the guy that beat him, a second time. The fact that the guy completely ignored him, irked him a little.

Was he that weak for him to not remember him?

Changing the subject, Jang Hyeon clapped his hands, "Hearing her reminded me that I should teach you guys the languages required to be a K-Pop idol; Chinese, English, Korean and Japanese."

"Since you're already learning Korean in school – and it's your first language – I'll teach you the other languages."

Glancing at everyone, he continued, "Does anyone know any words from any of the languages?"

Hyung Seok raised his hand, "I know some English..."

Happy that someone knows some words, he smiles, "Oh. Really? How did you learn?"

Hyung Seok glanced at Jae Yeol.

"Jae Yeol, ah – sorry – J taught me."

Since they have stage names now, they've been trying to say their stage name instead of their real names during practice. They've been doing okay overall, but there has been a few slips here and there.

Glancing over at Jae Yeol, he felt slight cheerfulness in knowing that he wouldn't have to teach them too much.

However, once he glanced at the other side where Vasco and Jin Sung were, he sighed:

_...This is going to be bothersome._

* * *

 

The hundredth mistake from Vasco almost made Jang Hyeon lose his temper.

He took a deep breath in and out, exasperated, "Vasco~ It's  _refill_  not  _refull_."

Vasco nodded as if he completely understood what he was saying, " _Refill_."

They've been practicing some English words for five hours straight, yet Vasco is the only who isn't improving that fast. Surprisingly, Jin Sung is a fast learner, he just doesn't use his brain a lot; making it hard to teach him in another aspect.

Vasco already messes up words in Korean, so it makes sense that he's messing up with English words too. He just didn't know the amount of times he messed up until Bum Jae and Jin Sung said the times they corrected him. The number was surprising at the least. That's why he's spending most of his time with Vasco while Jin Sung read a book – some struggle showing on his face.

Vasco, along with the rest, have some understanding on each language. They just need to remember what each word meant and when or where to use them.

That, to some degree, makes Jang Hyeon relieved.

Jang Hyeon has been a trainee for quite a long time, so he already knows the bare minimum of each language. Hearing them make so many mistakes reminded him of his early days as a trainee, somewhat feeling nostalgic.

An image of a black-haired male popped in his head.

Mentally taking him out of his mind, he scratched his head; holding in another sigh.

Taking a slight break from teaching, he glanced at how the other group was doing.

For learning languages, they have found out that Jae Yeol knew a lot of words from different languages, including the ones they didn't have to learn.

Not only does that release some stress off of Jang Hyeon, but Jae Yeol is a good teacher too.

Despite being grateful to Jae Yeol, he felt that it was unfair that he got the easier students to teach; Hyung Seok and Bum Jae.

Sure, Jin Sung was better than he thought, but he wasn't as fast of a learner as the other two. Vasco was a whole other problem that he had to make sure that he was learning the correct word every time he introduced a new one.

Realizing that he was staring at them for a little too long, he glances at his two students.

They were reading the assigned books, but looked at Jang Hyeon when they felt his stare.

He scratched his neck before glancing at the clock.

"Let's take a break."

* * *

 

After they had taken a break from learning languages, they went straight to practicing their song.

A little pissed off that it wasn't what he was expecting when he said those words, Jin Sung grew an irritated mark on his forehead.

_How is this a break?!_

"Hyungseok, your note was a little off that time. You're supposed to hit the high A, not high G."

Hyung Seok nodded, taking note of that.

Continuing to listen to everyone's part while singing his part as well, he slowly corrected everyone, one by one.

"Vasco, you missed a word while rapping."

"Jinsung, you came in a beat off."

"Jace, you're lacking emotion in your rapping."

"J, you're... hmm... actually, nevermind. You're fine."

Hearing no other mistakes when they sang/rapped the song again for four times straight, he stood up.

"Let's sing while dancing now."

Everyone had to hold back a groan.

From what they had learned from groaning in front of their leader is that he will whack them on the back of their heads and say, "I'm the one spending my individual practice time to help you, so stop complaining."

For some reason, instead of getting pissed, they get a little scared. Even if they're mad, it's not like they can correct him. He doesn't make any noticeable mistakes, to them at least.

The perks of being an experienced trainee.

Watching the pink-haired male set things up, they felt regret flowing throughout their body.

They're not going to take a break until they sleep, huh.

* * *

 

Doing everything at such a fast pace to the point that he wasn't sure what was happening, Hyung Seok seemed to forget something.

His sleeping schedule for both bodies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm surprised I still have these many readers despite going so slow... I promise that they'll become K-Pop idols soon! Like, two or three chapters left! I swear! Fighting!
> 
> Thank you for leaving comments! Um, I'm sorry, secrasanct! I can't relate since I don't watch that show...
> 
> If I happen to show a real K-Pop group in this fanfic, who would you prefer to see first? 1. Astro? 2. VIXX? 3. BTS? 4. Another group.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reality show.

Small Hyung Seok woke up, starving.

_...I slept all day in this body... When was the last time I felt like this?_

Remembering the first time he got his body, he started to understand why he was feeling this way.

_I'm going to have to manage my sleeping more... Maybe I can sleep in class?_

Thinking of solutions, he got ready for his job.

Glancing at the clock, he shot up.

_I'm late!_

* * *

 

Small Hyung Seok bowed, "I'm sorry, I won't be late again."

The manager just sighed, "This has been your fifth time being late... Are you going through hardship?"

Raising his head, Hyung Seok denied, "No, sir."

The manager hummed, "If you're late one more time, I might have to fire you... I know that you're a good worker and that you're trying hard, so please let me not resort to that."

He nodded, "I'll make sure I don't, manager."

Seeing his manager leave, Hyung Seok stared into the distance:

_Should I quit my job? I already have my modeling and idol work, so maybe I don't need this job anymore..._

Wondering what he would do without his job, he considered the following:

Exercise.

Tilting his head, Hyung Seok pondered a little longer.

Coming to a decision, he nodded with determination.

Knowing that he won't know the result until he tries, he decides to temporarily quit his convenience store job to use the free time to exercise.

* * *

 

A few weeks had passed. Every Monday of a new week, Soo Jeong would check up on them before deeming that they were doing great. It was even to the point that she admitted that she had no complaints.

A month had passed with small Hyung Seok exercising whenever he's in his small body, and sleeping in class along with naps in practice breaks in his other body. Doing that, Hyung Seok could see the obvious difference in his health; he still felt kind of heavy from the extra sleep, but it's slowly getting better.

The group doing well for a month, they now started doing more things to prepare for their debut.

Early in the morning, just before they had to go to school, Soo Jeong informed them on what they were going to do from now on.

"You want us to start a reality show for the next three months?" Jang Hyeon questioned, surprised with the new information.

Soo Jeong glanced at her paper, making sure she was right, "That's correct. The CEO had to pull a few strings to let you have one," she smiled, "Don't mess up."

She left.

Glancing at the paper she had given them, they blinked.

The paper told them how to record videos for their reality show, "LookismTV" and what to do in them.

Rereading it, Hyung Seok tilted his head, "That's all?"

Jang Hyeon nudged Hyung Seok's arm, "This is going to be harder than you think since we still have to do our regular everyday routine."

They started to become gloomy.

That's right. They still have to practice.

Ignoring their pain, Jang Hyeon started to talk about what they're going to do for the first episode.

Whether they were listening or not, Jang Hyeon continued to explain.

Checking the time, Jang Hyeon grabbed the camera.

"Let's do this in the car."

Once they were in the car, Jang Hyeon sat in the front seat to get everyone in the limited area of the camera view.

"I'm going to turn it on in one, two, three-" he turned it on, "Hello!"

They bowed before continuing, "Beauty is only skin deep!"

Placing the space from in between the fingers directly under their chin, they chanted, "We are Lookism."

"I'm the leader and lead singer, Eli!" Jang Hyeon smiled with confidence as if he was used to this kind of situation.

"I'm the main singer, Hyungseok!" He smiled, still a little awkward.

Jae Yeol prepared his voice, making sure he hit the right note before singing, "I'm the other main singer, J~"

Vasco joined in, not any less hyper than usual, "Main rapper, Vasco!"

"Other main rapper, Jace!" Bum Jae gave his practiced smile that he's been practicing on for the past month.

"Last, but not least. I'm the lead rapper, Jinsung!" Jin Sung smirked, arrogant as usual.

The moment Jin Sung finished his greeting, Jang Hyeon started talking, "This is our first reality show, LookismTV!" As if adding sonething at the last minute, he placed his thumb over his index finger to make his fingers look like a heart. "I hope you cuties will support us for the next three months!"

The others forgot that he had this side to him that they temporarily froze out of shock. Whenever he's around them, he would show a similar attitude, but in a somewhat ruder way.

The leader glanced at them, "Why aren't you talking?"

Wondering what to say, they all stared at their leader.

Snapping out of it, Hyung Seok awkwardly rubbed his neck, "Um... How's your day?"

Confused, the moment he understood that he was talking to the fans, Jang Hyeon covered his mouth.

_Waah. Should I edit that out later?_

Taking his hand off his mouth, the leader regained his composure. Pretending Hyungseok never said anything for editing purposes, he continued:

"You may have noticed that we're in a car. However, we're not going to go anywhere fun or anything," he gave a slight pause to show emphasis, "We're going to school."

Everyone couldn't help staring at him with incredulity.

_Do we have to do that too?_

Seeing the car stop, everyone glanced outside.

They have arrived.

Turning back to the camera, he smiled, "Let's go, shall we?"

The moment they walked outside, the other students started commenting on the six trainees, wondering why they had a camera.

None of the usual fangirls approached them since it felt somewhat rude to do it when Jang Hyeon was talking to a camera.

So, they continued to watch; whispering while the members ignored them.

Once they got inside, the leader gave them a script.

"If you don't know what to say, you can say what the script says."

After explaining a little more, he asked, "Who's taking the camera first?"

Jin Sung didn't hesitate to take it, "I'll go first."

Seeing no problem with that, everyone went to their own departments.

Watching Jin Sung, he noticed that he didn't have the camera on, so he can read the script. Seeing him study his script, Hyung Seok decided to do so as well along with Jae Yeol.

Once they reached their classroom, Jin Sung turned on the camera, talking while showing the classroom to the camera, "This is the Fashion Department."

Seeing the teacher tell them to do self-study, he halted. Hesitating for a second, he placed it back on him, smirking, "Let's study together, okay?"

Mi Jin and their group couldn't help wondering if Jin Sung was sick. They even started whispering on whether they should take him to the doctor. Yui found it somewhat nice while Mi Jin just stared; a hint of confusion in her eyes.

Hyung Seok let out a small cringe.

He didn't know if he was going to survive this.

Glancing at Jae Yeol, he saw him staring right at him.

Surprised, Hyung Seok blinked.

"Oh, Jae Yeol. Have you studied your script?"

"You don't have a lot of lines? You're only going to sing and nod?"

Seeing him nod, Hyung Seok wondered how things were going to go for them.

* * *

 

Lunch time arrived.

Meeting up, the six of them sat on the same table.

Bum Jae had the camera this time, however, the camera was facing everyone, but him.

Eating, Jang Hyeon gave off some comments here and there while the rest stayed silent.

After a few more seconds of talking, Jang Hyeon sighed, "You have to talk too, you know?"

Hearing that, Vasco turned towards Jin Sung, "Get me a refull for my drink."

Not really caring, Jin Sung replied, "It's refill, and no. Get it yourself."

Vasco continued to order Jin Sung to get him a drink while Jin Sung continued to deny.

Sighing at the sight, Bum Jae set the camera on the table, "I'll get you the refill..."

Nodding at Bum Jae, Vasco thanked him, "Thank you, Jace."

When Bum Jae returned, they finished their food.

Once everyone finished cleaning up, Jang Hyeon made everyone follow him to the Beauty Department.

Thinking of what to do on the spot, Jang Hyeon glanced at Jae Yeol.

Mentally smirking, he pretended to be innocent.

"Hey J." Jang Hyeon smiled, up to no good.

Jae Yeol turned, wondering what the leader wanted.

"Can I cut your hair?"

The blond froze.

Jae Yeol had done some research on his fellow members out of curiosity, so he has gotten a hold of quite a lot of information; especially on the leader's terrible cutting skills.

Shaking his head, Jae Yeol grew pale.

"Why not?" Jang Hyeon started towering over him.

He just kept on disagreeing.

Seeing no use in this, Jang Hyeon offered, "Can I at least dye your hair?"

Jae Yeol blinked.

He didn't know if Jang Hyeon could dye hair, but seeing his own hair, he figured that it'd be fine.

He nodded.

The leader smiled, "What color?"

Bum Jae recorded the leader dye Jae Yeol's hair. The process nice to watch.

Once he finished dying the hair, the members made a sound of awe.

Jae Yeol now had black hair.

"It looks professionally done..." Hyung Seok touched Jae Yeol's hair.

Jae Yeol, despite feeling that it he was going to regret it, now knew that it wasn't such a bad idea to let the leader dye his hair after all.

In the midst of playing with his hair, Hyung Seok twirled the hair around his finger.

"Your hair feels nice, J."

As if Jae Yeol said something, Hyung Seok froze before he put his head down; his face not showing.

Placing his hand on his face, everyone wondered what happened.

While everyone was focusing on Hyung Seok, they missed Jae Yeol's ten second blush; however, the cameraman, Bum Jae, managed to catch it.

The moment they saw Hyung Seok's blush, their curiosity grew tenfold.

"Are you okay, Hyungseok? Do you need to go to the Nurse's Office?" Vasco asked.

Hyung Seok shook his head.

"It's nothing. It's just something... J said."

That made them even more curious.

"What did he say?" Jang Hyeon questioned as he leaned on a chair.

Hyung Seok glanced up, they could really see the blush.

Opening his mouth, he quickly closed it after thinking about the words.

_Not as nice as you._

Shaking his head, he got rid of his blush.

Smiling, he continued to deny, "It's nothing."

While they were having this conversation, Bum Jae made sure to record it. The camera mostly going on Hyung Seok and Jae Yeol.

From there on, they continued to chat in the Beauty Department's room while the girls watched from afar.

* * *

 

They arrived back at their dorm.

"Should we end the video?" Jang Hyeon whispered to his members, making sure it was okay.

Seeing them nod, he ended it.

Breathing out, Jang Hyeon's familiar smile came on.

"Shall we practice?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late chapter! I didn't know what to write for a while and I ended up reading a manga for a few hours... Sorry!
> 
> Thank you for the comment, dance_of_the_moonlight_wolf13! I wasn't quite sure if the previous chapter was good, so hearing you say that, makes me feel better!


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sneak peek of something.

It was a sunny and beautiful day outside. The birds chirping, the plants well taken care of, and a man wearing a mask standing in front of a beautiful male.

Hyung Seok went into a fighting position.

The masked man, also in a fighting position, observed the other's move.

Waiting for ten seconds, the person started charging at Hyung Seok.

Running at the boy, the masked man took his fist out while preparing to hit the pretty face in front of him.

The man missed as Hyung Seok dodged the sudden attack.

Not losing hope, the man continued to jab at Hyung Seok; none of them hitting the target.

Knowing to finish the fight fast, Hyung Seok went for the solar plexus; the same move he used on Jin Sung.

Seeing the man on the ground, Hyung Seok stared at his fist.

However, he couldn't take a break as a group of people came into the view.

Seeing what he was capable of, they all got prepared to fight on the defense.

Observing their moves, Hyung Seok smirked before doing a hand movement for them to get closer.

"Cut!"

The one in charge of the producing shouted.

They all turned their gazes on the producer. Seeing him give a thumbs up, they knew that they finished the scene.

Sighing in relief, Hyung Seok glanced at the man he solar plexus punched.

The masked man was wearing protective gear, so he didn't get affected much from the punch.

Noticing his stare, the masked man glanced at him.

Taking his mask off, he smiled at Hyung Seok before sticking his hand out.

"Nice punch. You're stronger than you look."

Making sure the man was okay, Hyung Seok stared at him before smiling back; taking his hand, "Thank you."

Once the man left, he heard his name being called.

"Hyungseok!"

Glancing at the source of the sound, he saw one of his group members.

Jang Hyeon.

"Good job. The scene didn't turn out bad."

Thanking the leader, he took in his appearance.

Jang Hyeon was currently wearing an all-black leather outfit consisting of a pair of jacket and jeans.

Everyone of  _Lookism_  wore black, all varying in outfits. Instead of a jacket, Hyung Seok wore a plain, black shirt; Jin Sung and Bum Jae wore a hoodie; Jae Yeol had on a black shirt with English words on it; and Vasco wore an open leather jacket.

Right now, the group were making their first music video for their first song, "The King"

How Hyung Seok ended up doing most of the fighting scenes started out like this:

"Does anyone have fighting experience?"

The producer asked the six, making everyone except Jang Hyeon raise their hand.

Surprised at the amount, he didn't question it as he looked at his choices.

Humming, he pondered on who to choose as they all weren't bad.

They didn't necessarily need the fighting scenes to be them, but it was preferred if one of the members fought instead of an actor. That way, the expenses would be less and they'll save a little more money than planned.

Seeing that they all had experience, he needed the one who could look the coolest and hold back if he's strong.

Not wanting to guess and choose the wrong person, he asked, "Who's the best among you guys?"

They all looked at Hyung Seok.

Wondering who they were looking at, the oblivious boy glanced behind himself, only to see no one.

Blinking, Hyung Seok pointed at himself, "Me?"

That's how Hyung Seok ended up doing most of the fighting scenes.

The others had quite a lot of fighting scenes, themselves, but they did about a quarter of what Hyung Seok had to do.

Currently on his break, Hyung Seok took his time to watch one of his group members act for the MV.

Jin Sung.

Jang Hyeon, in the MV, was Hyung Seok's underling.

Jae Yeol went solo while Vasco and Bum Jae fought as a pair.

Since Jang Hyeon and Hyung Seok already had roles, Jin Sung was in charge of dealing with the girl in the MV.

The girl being the viewers.

They didn't think that a physical girl in the MV would fit the song as they thought that having no girl at all, would be better.

In one of the scenes, Jin Sung had to act like he was arrogant and all that – which wasn't hard for him at all.

In the current scene, he stood in front of the camera, lip-synching, "I'll bewitch you with my sweet voice..."

While rapping his part, he glanced around at his surroundings before placing his gaze back on the camera, smirking:

"Drench your body with hot sweat,  _oh my god_."

Then Hyung Seok's voice could be heard in the recording.

Feeling like the scene was good enough, the producer let Jin Sung take a break.

Knowing that Jin Sung was done, Hyung Seok stood up.

His break was over.

* * *

 

Once the acting part was finished, the six could finally leave and go onto the next thing on their schedule:

Hearing the plans of the CEO.

Standing in front of the man wearing sunglasses, they waited for him to talk.

With a stern face, the scarred man watched the boys in front of him.

Breathing in, the CEO cracked a smile:

"Your debut date has been decided."

* * *

 

"Have you heard of the group,  _Lookism_?"

That sentence would make any group of teenage girls start chatting like crazy.

For the past three months,  _Lookis_ _m_  had gotten a lot of popularity and...

Fanfiction material.

Sadly, that's saved for another chapter.

Ever since they released their first episode of LookismTV, the fangirls came rushing in.

Awed by the handsomeness, and contrasting personalities made them interested; later becoming a fan.

The result of them releasing teasers for their music videos made more fans start joining the fan club called:

Lookers.

* * *

 

Soo Jeong stood in front of the soon-to-be K-Pop idols.

Analyzing them, she now can say that they were prepared.

Seeing them dance and sing, the comparison to when she first saw them to now, has improved significantly.

Their speaking and understanding of the four languages – Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and English – have gotten to the point that she didn't have to worry as much.

Vasco had gotten better at freestyle rapping and had started to mess up on words less.

Bum Jae had gotten a more realistic idol smile; the three months of practice proving to be worth it.

Jin Sung got a little less arrogant with the members around.

Hyung Seok had gotten a little more confident.

Jang Hyeon was able to do individual practice without having to worry about the other members.

Jae Yeol could convey some words to the other members without talking.

Staring at them for a little longer, she knew that she would be busy when they finally debut.

Finishing her weekly check, she walked out of the practice room; plans already forming in her head.

* * *

 

The black-haired male sat in the agency's meeting room.

The staff surrounded them, making it harder for the male to keep calm.

Even if he was feeling pressured, the boy showed no trace of unease, sitting with confidence.

The boss sat in his chair before observing the black-haired male.

Humming, the boss repeated information the male had told him.

"Their debut date is final..."

Staring at the boy's eyes, the boss ordered, "You're going to debut with your group on the same date."

Getting eye contact with his son, he continued, "You understand, Tae Jun?"

The black-haired male nodded, "Yes, sir."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh. I'm sorry for not updating yesterday! I didn't feel like the chapter I wrote for this was good enough! Also, I was lacking the energy to rewrite it... I know I'm an hour late, so I'm also apologizing for that! Since I'm updating every day, I figured that I should have one break day every week. I didn't decide which day, but if I happen to not write on a day, then you know why. <\-- a bit mean, but I can't decide a day for when I don't feel like writing...
> 
> If any of you are wondering what song I based the MV off of, it's "The King" by VIXX.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Debut stage!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is "The King" by VIXX.

"Hey, have you heard?  _Lookism's_  music video came out!"

The moment the music video released, the fan club immediately went and watched it.

Excited, all around the world, the play button was pushed.

The exact moment they heard and saw them, their eyes widened as they gaped.

Immediately, they went to the comments:

"They're so cool!"

"This is my first time seeing so much fighting in a MV!"

"I'd definitely buy their album!"

* * *

 

The CEO stared at the screen before him.

Pleased with the reactions of the fans, he went to look at his calendar.

The boys are going to debut the next day.

* * *

 

Backstage, the six tried to keep their composure under control.

They were finally going to do their debut stage.

The boys were currently getting ready in the dressing room.

They wore their black outfits; their hair and makeup now getting professionally done.

Jae Yeol, back to his blond hair, let the lady touch his hair with the promise of not letting his face being shown.

"I'm starting to get nervous..." Bum Jae placed his hand on his heart, sweating as the hairstylist touched his hair.

No one commented as they were busy with calming themselves down.

Hyung Seok stared at the mirror, his hair almost finished.

His heart beating fast, he closed his eyes:

_Control your breathing... If I don't calm down, I'll mess up. As long as I don't forget Duk Hwa's advice, I'll be fine._

Managing to calm himself to a center point, his hairstylist let him go as she finished the final touches.

Glancing around the room, he observed the members as they all got ready.

Soon after, their door opened.

A staff member appeared before he told them to stand on standby.

Knowing what that meant, they stood up.

It was time to debut.

* * *

 

The group walked on stage, the fangirls loud; cheering, " _Lookism_!  _Lookism_! Fighting!"

Awed by the amount of people in the audience, their heart beats started to get faster.

Not wanting to mess up, they started to calm their thoughts.

In the process of cooling themselves down, they closed their eyes.

Clearing out their thoughts, they listened for the music to start.

In position: Hyung Seok went in the back with Jae Yeol on his left and Jang Hyeon on his right; in the middle, Bum Jae on the left and Vasco on the right while Jin Sung was diagonally across Vasco, being in the right, front.

Everyone showed their back towards the crowd.

Once the music started, everyone opened their eyes; serious.

Jin Sung spun on his leg, turning towards the audience.

" _Ladies and gentlemen_." Jin Sung started walking to the front of the pyramid, cane in hand while he hit his chest with his free hand.

" _Welcome_ ," he stopped walking and dramatically pointed at the sky before singing the next line as he pointed at the audience with the cane three times, " _to Lookism's world_."

Jang Hyeon turned around, " _10, 9, 8, 7_ ," he went faster as the rest of the members started to turn to the front, " _6_ ," Bum Jae, " _5_ ," Vasco, " _4_ ," Jae Yeol " _3_ ," Hyung Seok, " _2_ ," Everyone got into fighting position.

" _Fight_!" Jin Sung shouted as everyone kicked the air.

* * *

 

Currently, backstage,  _FBC_  got ready.

Once they heard  _Lookism_  performing, they moved their heads to the TV, watching their performance.

Tae Jun stared at the six with emotionless eyes as his members watched with interest.

"They got better." Chi Hoon, the one with brown hair, whistled as he played with his bracelet.

Jiho, the long haired one, smiled, "They have... However," his smile didn't reach his eyes, "We're better."

He glanced towards their leader, eyes narrowed, "Right, leader~?"

The black-haired male flinched, cautious. "Yeah..."

_Tsk... I have to be careful around Jiho..._

It all started the day before.

* * *

 

"Jiho, you'll watch my son, correct?" The man in the suit glanced towards the boy.

The boy's lips twitched, not pleased, "Of course. I'll make sure he's well."

Getting his point across, the man left the room without saying another word.

The room remained silent; an awkward atmosphere forming throughout the room.

Irritated, the long-haired male clicked his tongue before glancing at Tae Jun.

Seeing the boy stare at his feet, in a trance, he sighed.

_I'm stuck watching over a worthless piece of a failure... Why do I have to watch him? I just want to debut._

Keeping his eye on the black-haired male, he shook his head.

He shouldn't waste his time thinking about time spending things.

They had to prepare.

While he was thinking about these things, Tae Jun kept an eye on Jiho from the corner of his eye; inwardly sighing.

* * *

 

Lookers started getting excited the moment they realized that they'll see fighting scenes like the one's from the MV.

Seeing them perform some dance moves here and there, they couldn't help getting thrilled. Also, the fact that they pronounced the English words with such accuracy made them squeal. Hearing some accent was usual, but with them, they sounded like natives.

They all faced left as they had their right arm across them as their left arm bent with the wrist touching the other arm.

Jae Yeol pointed at the audience as he stood in front of the group, "Now, open your closed ears." 

"Pay close attention." He sang as they did the following moves:

They moved their arms in a circular motion; their left arm going down and right going up. Putting their right hand on the back of their head, they placed their left hand on their belt.

They moved their left leg forward as they swayed their hips a little to move their right leg next to the other leg as they placed their right hand on their hip. Moving the back of their hands, they faced it up in front of them as they wiggled their fingers.

"Scream until your throat bursts," Hyung Seok smirked at the audience as he placed his hand through his hair, the Lookers almost dying at the beautiful sight.

" _Say oh_ ," Hyung Seok started while Jae Yeol repeated the last word for two times before Hyung Seok continued with the smirk still intact, "Go crazy today."

" _I'm the king._ " Jin Sung whispered as he hit the cane on the ground.

The fans continued to cheer for them; making their confidence slowly build up as they continued their performance.

Vasco came up next, "I'm different ( _hey_ )." Everyone turned towards him as he walked into the center. "I'm different ( _hey_ )."

"I don't even know myself." Vasco turned towards Jang Hyeon.

"I'll show you." Jang Hyeon pointed at the audience as everyone bent down before they stood back up.

Standing back up, Vasco continued, "I'm fast ( _hey_ ). I'm fast ( _hey_ )." Every time, " _hey_ " was said, the members went into pairs as they punched the person in front of them while the other dodged.

Moving up front, Hyung Seok sang, "Feel it just like that," grabbing the cane from Jin Sung, he swung the cane in front of him before hitting it on the ground, " _I'm the king_."

Pushing passed the members, Bum Jae started, "I'll show you, will you get out the way?"

"Even if you run till your feet set on fire in the end, you'll be underneath me." Being cocky, he smirked as he walked in front. He continued to rap as everyone got into position:

"All you fakers who only imitate start being nervous now (B B B Breathe)."

While everyone did a running motion, "You can run like crazy, but you're covered in thick makeup." They quickly went down on the ground while Vasco continued standing.

"I'm a guy who knows how to party." Vasco whispered.

"I'll bewitch you with my sweet voice." Jin Sung appeared from behind Vasco, touching his shoulder as they switched places while everyone moved to the beat, their chest going out.

"Shouts come from the heated floor." He placed his right hand near his face to emphasize that he was hearing the sounds.

Smirking, everyone moved their hand down their abs, Jin Sung being the only one standing, "Drench your body with hot sweat,  _oh my god_."

Jang Hyeon stood up as he stepped to the front, "What to do, it can't be stopped."

They went back to the chorus as they all stood up with Jae Yeol and Hyung Seok singing the main lines with Jang Hyeon singing a few lines here and there.

Having fun, they didn't know performing in front of an excited audience was this fun. They continued to sing, their performance surely not going to be forgotten.

Near the ending, they started dancing the final moves.

Crossing their arms, they nodded three times before moving their arms out upwards and moving their left leg up and placed it back down. Running into their new positions, Jae Yeol took his time to get there while Jang Hyeon handed him the cane.

Forming a chair: Hyung Seok on the left side, right leg kneeling down, facing the right while Jin Sung stood behind him, arms crossed; Jang Hyeon mirrored Hyung Seok with Bum Jae behind him; Vasco stood in the middle back and kneeled. While they all formed the chair, through the small space, Jae Yeol walked over while singing, "Feel it just like that."

Nearing Hyung Seok and Jang Hyeon, he lowered himself to sit on their laps while giving a small smirk, he hit the ground with the cane:

" _I'm the king_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for not updating yesterday! I didn't know what idols did before they debut and how they debut, so I was researching that (which took forever). Also, I just had to choose a song that didn't have choreography so I ended up spending more time trying to find a dance that matched (took me two days to find the right one). At least I'll be updating more frequently now that I finally wrote out the part I didn't know.
> 
> Thank you for the comments as always, ChickenStrp and Fangirltrash!
> 
> Was there too much dancing? Please let me know, so I can write less in the future!


	27. Chapter 27

The six finished performing, making them quietly pant as sweat rolled off their bodies.

Glancing at the audience, they felt overwhelmed as the beats of their heart fastened.

Despite being rookies, whether they were Lookers or not, the audience cheered for them.

Shocked by the sight, they gaped.

Since they were performing, they didn't have time to immerse themselves with the feeling of being on a stage. Now being able to feel it, they slowly zoned out.

Even though they were exhausted, they temporarily forgot about that as they stared at the audience.

Hearing the next group being called on standby, they snapped out of it.

Without thinking, they gave a slight bow to the crowd before going backstage.

Out of the gazes of hundreds of people, they managed to get their thoughts straight.

Hyung Seok looked at his hands, trembling.

Remembering this feeling as the time he felt when performing with Duk Hwa, he smiled out of excitement.

Getting emotional, he closed his hands before checking on how his group was doing.

The others – unlike Hyung Seok – were feeling this for the first time as they stared in thought; unable to grasp reality.

Despite not being able to see his eyes, Jae Yeol's expression was clear as day – which was rare for someone unexpressive as him.

Jin Sung was facing his back towards them, but Hyung Seok could tell that he was feeling the same way as everyone else did.

Vasco's eyes were wide as he stared at his feet.

Catching the sight of his friend, Bum Jae patted his back which surprisingly made Vasco cry from one eye.

Not expecting that reaction, Bum Jae blinked before his lips formed a smile. He knew that the tear meant something different from the usual daily occurrence of 'bad good-looking guys'.

Jang Hyeon was showing a face of achievement, but it quickly changed to a serious expression the moment he locked eyes with someone.

Wondering on who he was looking at, they turned towards the line of sight before noticing the familiar group.

_Flower Boys Corporation._

Feeling their gaze, Tae Jun faced his head in their direction.

His eyes showed mixed emotions before it changed back to its normal state.

Knowing not to be rude with spectators and staff around, he gave a bow of his head, smiling, "You did well in your debut stage."

Blinking, Jang Hyeon caught the reason for his reaction as he naturally smiled back, "Thank you. I wish you luck in your performance."

Nodding, Tae Jun walked with his group; ready to go on the stage.

Seeing their leader's expression, Hyung Seok patted his shoulder, "Should we watch their debut stage?"

Taking the question into consideration, he later shakes his head, "Miss Soo Jeong is waiting for us..." Glancing in  _FBC's_  direction, he adds, "We'll most likely watch their performance later, anyways."

Understanding, Hyung Seok nods.

"Oi, what are you doing? We're going to leave without you if you don't hurry up!"

Jin Sung half-serious, half-jokingly shouted at the two.

* * *

 

In their dorm room, Soo Jeong stood before them, laptop in hand.

Crossing her arms, she started, "Before I start, have any of you seen  _FBC's_  debut stage?"

They all shook their head while Jang Hyeon took the liberty to respond for them, "We wanted to arrive at the agency on time."

Nodding her head, she handed them the laptop.

Giving the laptop to Jae Yeol, she opened the laptop and did a few things before pressing play.

They gulped, not knowing what to expect.

Once the video played, their eyes widened.

Letting the video play until the end, they stood there, shocked.

Taking in their expressions, Soo Jeong's fingers went through her hair; stress catching up to her.

Grabbing the laptop, she let them think about their plans as she considered telling them something. Shaking her head, she left as she had a tight sleeping schedule.

The room remained silent; no one dared to say a single word.

_This is our competition._

* * *

 

In the inside of a shop selling K-Pop albums, the sounds of fangirls filled up the store.

"The rookies this year are great!"

"Kyaaa! Speaking of which, did you buy  _Lookism's_  album, 'The King'?"

"I have! I have!" Turning towards her friend, she added, "Didn't they manage to get in the top 10 in the Billboard World Albums Chart and Gaon Music Chart rankings?"

Listening in on their giggling, the six spread out in the store; wearing surgical masks.

Confused at their current situation, Bum Jae whispered in Jang Hyeon's ear, "Why do we have to wear masks? It's not like we're well-known."

Jang Hyeon blinked as if he asked a stupid question, considering that they were currently being talked about.

Ignoring that fact, he answered, nevertheless, "Even non-famous idols wear masks, nowadays," he glanced at the customers, "Besides, there's someone bound to recognize us, with our album in here and all."

Peeking around the corner, he caught sight of Hyung Seok and Jae Yeol.

Among those two, only Hyung Seok wore the mask since Jae Yeol insisted that no one would be able to remember him – Hyung Seok's translation, not his – so they let him be.

Hyung Seok was currently looking through a magazine with Jae Yeol, while giving side comments about the models.

Seeing the black-haired male laugh and the blondie crack a smile, he decided to leave them alone.

Checking on his other group members, he glanced at another aisle.

There stood a stray Vasco in all of its glory. He seemed lost, yet he didn't at the same time.

Wondering if he should say something to him, his mind did a 360 as his ears perked up.

His head snapping in the direction of the voice, he saw Jin Sung with someone.

A girl.

Wondering what was happening, his feet automatically walked closer to the boy, but halted the moment he recognized the girl.

It was Mi Jin.

Stopping, he recalled the times Jin Sung talked about the female. Knowing that dating was forbidden until they became more famous, Jang Hyeon contemplated on his decisions.

Should he or should he not interrupt their time together?

While Jang Hyeon stood there, Jin Sung and Mi Jin headed towards  _Lookism's_  album.

Taking one of the albums, he shyly murmured, "This is our album."

Tilting her head, Mi Jin finally understood why Jin Sung brought her to the store.

She was only notified of him wanting to show her something. She didn't know that he was going to show her his album.

Glancing at Jin Sung's face, she saw him being bashful as he rubbed his head with his free hand.

Blinking, she gently took the album from his hand.

Once Jin Sung looked at her, she smiled, "Congratulations on debuting, Jin Sung."

Joyful, Jin Sung cried manly tears before quickly changing to his tough persona, coughing, "Thanks."

Continuing to smile, she couldn't tell him that she already bought their album. She even watched their debut stage, but Jin Sung didn't need to know that.

He'd die from overwhelming happiness.

Seeing their interactions, the leader knew that he couldn't possibly butt in their time together.

Leaving them be for now, he continued to observe the store once more before getting bored.

They were only in this store because Soo Jeong wanted them to see their own fans in real life before having a Meet and Greet or concert.

So far, he's only heard about five girls talk about them. Sure, they were happy, but they shouldn't outstay their welcome if all they're going to do is eavesdrop on potential Lookers.

Sighing, he glanced around the room to see no one except for the six with Mi Jin presently saying her goodbyes to Jin Sung.

Scratching his neck, he gathered all of the members and left the store.

* * *

 

Soo Jeong appeared before them, prepared to give them their first work of their K-Pop lives.

She looked professional at first, but that didn't last long as she gave them a proud smile.

Curious on what she had to say to give such a smile, they leaned closer to be able to hear her better.

Catching her smile, she coughed into her hand, " _Lookism_  is going to appear in one of the most famous variety shows."

Excited, everyone broke into smiles.

"However," they gained their composure back, waiting for bad news, "you'll be guests with two other groups who will later be disclosed on the day of the filming."

Understanding the reason, they silently left their untold questions to themselves.

"The variety show is called..."

They leaned closer in her direction, obvious expressions of curiosity and eagerness showing on their face.

Watching her mouth open, they listened to the two words:

"Weekly Idol."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're finally getting somewhere! Yay! I've noticed that I've been writing in Jang Hyeon's POV lately, and I don't know what to think of that... I used to dislike him, but after writing him out, I started to like him. Should I start writing in the other four members of Lookism? I feel like I'm not really writing them out as I should...
> 
> Thank you for the support, Fangirltrash and thefaultinmyfart! It's really appreciated TT~TT
> 
> Leaving that aside. I might not be able to update tomorrow as it's my birthday!! Yay! I'm getting old! When I write out the Weekly Idol chapter, should I write it out with their thoughts or show it as if you were a fan watching TV? I can do either, so feel free to tell me on which one sounds the best! Also, is there a group you want to see in the Weekly Idol chapter? Be prepared to read a long(er) chapter next time!


	28. Weekly Idol – Super Rookies

“We will start recording now.”

Walking onto the set, two relatively big guys, one with sunglasses, Defconn, and the one smaller than the other, Hyeong-don, started singing a song by Kim Won Joon, “What Should I Know”.

Stopping, they bowed, “Hello, viewers. This is Weekly,” extending one arm out, the other bent, they diagonally pointed it to their side’s direction, “Idol!”

Hyeong-don, the smaller one, began, “We’re having a special episode even though we’ve done it recently with B.I.G, MAP6, and Matilda.” Glancing at his emcee card, he continued, “This is ‘Excavating idols’ variety talent diamonds’ project.”

“In our ‘Ogoo-ogoo woojjujju’ section, we’re searching for variety talents.”

Mentioning, Defconn faced towards Hyeong-don, “Ah, I’m recalling those moments right now.”

Nodding, Hyeong-don gave the viewers a review of the previous super rookies, “Astro won the first one, second was won by Victon, the third was a tie, and the fourth was won by Matilda – the first girl group to win, ‘Trust in Variety Idol’.”

“Today, we are doing it for the fifth time.”

They stuck their hands out before placing it behind their backs and turning sideways while the back of their hands faced the ground, “Ogoo-ogoo,” they jumped three times while saying, “Woojjujju.”

 _Lookism_ stood backstage, entertained by the scene before them. Wearing black shirts with their stage names on it, Jang Hyeon took this opportunity to inform them on some stuff while unknowingly having the camera directed on them at that moment.

The camera going back, Hyeong-don began, “Talking about today. Today, we’ll have three teams visiting Weekly Idol.” After saying that, he started facing the left side of the set, “Let’s have the first team come on first.”

Taking his hands from behind his back, he pointed in the direction the six were waiting, backstage, “They’re _Lookism_!”

The hosts clapping, the six walked on set while clapping and bowing – Jang Hyeon holding a sign with their group name, “Lookism” on it.

While walking on set, the words displayed on the screen:

**Majestic move into the 3 rd floor basement**

On the screen, the member’s concept pictures started to appear with only one of them showing at a time.

A hand through his pink-hair, he sat on the edge of a building. The letters forming his name appeared, “Eli”.

Switching pictures, only the top part of a black-haired male showed as he wore a plain, black shirt. His name slowly formed, “Hyungseok”.

Right after, it showed a blond boy smiling, his eyes not showing, “J”.

Changing, it showed a pompadour man leaning on the wall, staring at the camera, “Jinsung”.

Showing two pictures at once, it showed a man wearing long sleeves, standing straight, “Vasco”. The picture next to it had a male sitting down, looking at the sky, “Jace”.

After that, it showed all six of them together – some sitting, the rest standing as the name, “ _Lookism_ ” appeared.

The screen went back to the set, showing the hosts on the left in the viewers view, while LKM stood on the other side.

The leader counted up to three before the six chanted, “Hello! Beauty is only skin deep!”

They placed the space between their index finger and thumb under their chin, “We’re _Lookism_!”

Being polite, the six clapped as they bowed.

Once their top bodies went back up, Hyeong-don asked, “Did I hear someone sing the intro just now?”

Hyung Seok took his role as the translator seriously as he answered, “Yes. That was J. He doesn’t talk, he only sings.”

Blinking, the hosts were taken aback, “What?”

The words, **Surprised** , appeared in circles, next to their bodies.

Blinking some more, Hyeong-don continued, “He’s not like the ones who are just silent most of the time, like Leo from VIXX?”

Hyung Seok nodded, “Yes.”

Playful, Defconn joined the conversation, “He really doesn’t talk? So, when he introduces himself, he goes like, ‘I’m J~, the one who doesn’t talk~’. Like that?”

Hyung Seok nodded, oblivious of the joking tone, “Oh! Exactly like that.”

Surprised by being right despite joking around, he tried again, using his hand as if it was talking while speaking, “He really doesn’t talk?”

“Yes.”

The two expressed their awe, “Uwa~”

Hyeong-don turned towards Defconn, “This my first time hearing of such a person, especially as an idol.”

Having a small discussion on it, it ended as they both quickly got over it.

Hyeong-don faced the six, “Moving on, what does _Lookism_ mean? It’s my first time hearing it.”

Seeming to think that the question was easy enough, Bum Jae pointed out, “ _Lookism_ in Korean is Lookism.”

The hosts uttered out an, “Ahh. Lookism. What does that mean?”

The six instinctively faced their leader, no one else knowing what it meant.

Mentally sighing, Jang Hyeon interpreted as he was the only one who remembered the definition, “It’s the construction of a standard for beauty and attractiveness, and judgments made about people based on how well or poorly they meet the standard.”

The hosts made a sound of understanding before Defconn commented, “I bet it’s a new word.”

Questioning more, Hyeong-don slightly moved his body towards them, “Why did you pick that name?”

Staring blankly, the explosion of smoke appeared as they stood still.

Jang Hyeon, not wanting to answer as he wasn’t quite sure why they chose it, moved his body towards Hyung Seok’s direction. If his memory didn’t fail him, he recalled that he was the one who suggested it, so he might as well take responsibility and answer it.

Hyung Seok, noticing the stares of the seven people on set on him, understood the situation he was in, blinking.

Not knowing why, he thought of an answer on the spot, “Um, we chose that name to show that all types of people can fit the beauty standard…”

The hosts nodded as Hyeong-don decided to observe them, “Ahh. That would explain the lack of consistency in looks.”

Walking towards them, he started, “Eli and Hyungseok are the pretty boys; Jinsung is the delinquent; Jaeyeol, mysterious emo, but with blond hair; and Vasco and Jace look like they’re from a gang.”

Hearing the description, Jang Hyeon couldn’t help laughing into his hand; Jin Sung seemed a little irked; Jace and Jae Yeol didn’t care, while the remaining two looked lost.

“Despite all of that, you managed to look like an idol group.” Hyeong-don pointed out, lightening up the atmosphere.

They nodded, somewhat relieved that they at least look like a group.

The host continued his questioning as he craned his neck towards them, “What company are you from?”

Jin Sung decided to respond as he currently lacked screen time, “DY Entertainment.”

The two hosts let out an, “Oh~”

Defconn, the one wearing sunglasses, remarked, “Kim Won Joon is from there, right?”

The six replied, “Yes.”

Hyeong-don recalled the previous moment as he slightly turned towards his fellow host, “Ah~, we were just barely singing his new song.”

“He hasn’t been on Weekly Idol, lately. Did he give you any advice for being on here?”

They all shook their head while Jang Hyeon answered, “We haven’t met him yet…”

“You haven’t met him?” He sighed, facing towards Defconn, “Usually the rookies have met their seniors at least once.”

 **Disappointed** showed up on the screen.

He faced them again, “When did you debut?”

Vasco, semi-hyper, smiled, “August 1, 2017.”

“Ahh~” They understood why they didn’t meet him yet.

“You’ve only been an idol for a month, and Kim Won Joon is in his promotional period. No wonder you didn’t meet him yet.”

“Do you at least know how to dance his song?”

“Yes.”

How could they have not? The pink-haired devil made sure that they knew almost every K-Pop song before they even debuted.

They mentally shivered at the thought.

“That’s why we prepared his latest song, ‘What Should I Know’ for you guys.”

“Eh?” They couldn’t help letting out as they hadn’t planned on dancing his song.

Ignoring their reaction, Hyeong-don continued, “Let’s see it.”

“Music cue!”

Hearing the music, they knew that they didn’t have a say in this.

Getting in position, they prepared themselves.

* * *

 

After they had danced it, the two hosts clapped, “Uwa~”

Turning towards the camera, Hyeong-don started giving a message, “You see that Kim Won Joon? Your underlings – who you’ve never met before – are doing a great job. Make sure that you come back to Weekly Idol soon.”

Smiling, the six were slowly getting used to the presence of the two hosts.

Finishing that, Hyeong-don began, “The next group is another boy group who coincidently debuted on the same day as _Lookism_ ,” Turning towards offstage, he finished, “Welcome FBC!”

Everyone clapped, waiting for the three to walk on set.

As they showed up, **Coolly** appeared.

Holding up their sign saying, “FBC”, Tae Jun led the group – everyone wearing blue with their names on it – before bowing with his group while the rest clapped.

On the screen, their pictures start showing up.

A black-haired male smiled at the camera, standing near a bridge, “Tae Jun”.

A long-haired male sat while facing the opposite side of the bridge, sitting sideways, “Jiho”.

A brown-haired male showed up, on the other side of the bridge, smiling, “Chi Hoon”.

The next picture showed all of them, “FBC”.

Standing in the middle of the hosts and LKM, Tae Jun counted, “Two, three.”

They started, “Hello! All that glitters is not gold!” Placing their hand near their head, they do a hand explosion with their hand; hand closed before it opens.

“We are FBC!” They shouted as they bowed.

Finishing their clapping, Hyeong-don asked, “What does FBC stand for?”

Tae Jun slightly cringed as he continued to hold the sign, “It means Flower Boys Corporation.”

The hosts laughed, “Flower Boys Corporation?”

“Why did you choose this name?”

They turned towards Jiho, the long-haired male, staring with a tint of a glare found.

“Wait, wait. Why are you glaring at Jiho?” Hyeong-don laughed as they watched them glare at him for a little longer.

Sighing, Chi Hoon explained, “Jiho, the youngest in the group, insisted that we kept that name.”

“The youngest chose the name?” Hyeong-don turned towards Jiho, “Why did you choose this name?”

Smiling, Jiho held back a laugh, “I thought I had a great naming sense, but… it looks like I’m not that great at it.”

Blinking, Hyeong-don got confused, “Eh?” He turned to Tae Jun, “How did you end up agreeing with it?”

Tae Jun could only shake his head, “We don’t even know. He kept insisting to the point that before we knew it, we got stuck with that name.”

“Ahh, so the youngest is the hidden leader?”

Blinking at that assumption, Tae Jun shook his head, eyes widening, “No, no, no. I’m the official leader.”

They laughed, “Why didn’t you change the name, then?”

Tae Jun glanced at the boy from the corner of his eyes, “…that’s classified information.”

The hosts blinked before they whispered into each other ears, “Jiho is the secret leader.”

Amused, Jang Hyeon didn’t know what to think of the sight before him. He’s never seen Tae Jun so flustered before, that he laughed. Loud.

Turning towards Jang Hyeon, Hyeong-don questioned, “Why are you laughing? It wasn’t that funny.”

The others laughing at his statement, Jang Hyeon covered his face with his hand.

Calming down his giggles, he took his hand away, “I personally know Tae Jun.”

Tae Jun blinked, wondering where he was taking this.

“Oh, you do?”

Tae Jun nodded, “Yes. We were trainees with the rest of FBC in the same company.”

“Oh, so you guys used to be from DY Entertainment?”

The three nodded. “Yes, yes.”

Hyeong-don turned towards LKM, “What about the five of you?”

“Ah, we got in from an audition. We never met the other trainees in DY since we had our own training time.”

Hyeong-don did a stop sign with his hand, “Wait, so you were trainees for how long?”

“Three months.”

The hosts blinked, “All five of you?”

Watching them nod, the hosts uttered, “That’s short.”

The two turned towards Jang Hyeon, “What about you?”

“Seven years.”

They were shocked, “How old are you guys?”

They all responded, “Seventeen.”

“All of you?”

“We also go to the same school.”

During their conversation, FBC slowly got pushed to the side, being forgotten as the words **Gloomy** appeared next to them.

Slowly finishing that conversation, they went back to FBC.

“What company are you under?”

Tae Jun answered, “PTJ Entertainment.”

“Ahh~,” The hosts looked pleasantly surprised, “The one with Aru?”

Hyeong-don faked a sad expression, “Sadly, we don’t have any music from Aru prepared. So, we won’t be able to watch your cover dance.”

Sighing in relief, the trio didn’t know that they would’ve had to dance her songs if they had the music.

“Did Aru give you any advice?”

The three immediately nodded, “She helps us whenever she sees us.”

Chi Hoon continued, “She didn’t give us advice for Weekly Idol, though as we didn’t tell her that we were going on here.”

Hyeong-don clicked his tongue, “Ahh, you didn’t tell her? You should’ve.”

The trio laughed it off, “We’ll make sure that we do so next time.”

Moving on, Hyeong-don placed his hands behind his back, “The last group, sadly, couldn’t make it.”

Defconn cut in, “Apparently, they got a better offer, so they rejected us at the last minute.”

“Very unfortunate.” Hyeong-don shook his head, looking depressed before smiling, “Luckily, we can rearrange that.”

The hosts, turning their gazes on the six boys, Hyeong-don continued, “Could three members from _Lookism_ form a different team?”

The six blinked at that.

They weren’t informed about this change.

Glancing at each other, they wondered who should leave the team. Figuring that they should watch the one most likely going to help them win, they kept an eye on Jang Hyeon and Hyung Seok.

Staring at each other, Defconn and Hyeong-don saw them struggle, suggesting:

“Just do rock-paper-scissors.”

Doing just that, they prepared their hands:

“Rock-paper-scissors.”

Hyung Seok, Jin Sung, and Jang Hyeon gave paper; Jae Yeol, Bum Jae, and Vasco did rock.

Accidently hearing Jae Yeol, Hyung Seok, on instinct, did the opposite to win. Feeling guilty, Hyung Seok temporarily avoided eye contact with Jae Yeol.

Jae Yeol just merely stared at Hyung Seok, wondering why he was looking at the ground with a shamefaced expression.

Right after he saw the results, Jang Hyeon cheered, glad that he got Hyung Seok – the one most likely to win – on his team. Placing his arms around his group member’s shoulders, he felt relief as he didn’t have to deal with Vasco.

He didn’t mind Vasco, but he seemed like he would make sad mistakes, and he would rather avoid that from happening.

With the other team, Jae Yeol observed his members.

Vasco was happy that they were doing a friend grouping, while Bum Jae couldn’t care less. Pushing his worry for Vasco aside, he didn’t know if Bum Jae would be useful as he didn’t seem all that determined on winning.

Not knowing what to expect, he already started going to the conclusion that they won’t win.

Hyeong-don handed Jang Hyeon their red shirts, the chosen people having their names on them.

Taking the clothes from Hyeong-don, Jang Hyeon froze once he realized there was something else in there.

Wondering what happened, Hyung Seok peeked over his shoulder.

He froze.

Jin Sung, also curious, glanced at the sight.

He stiffened.

_I’m not going to wear this!_

They all turned towards the hosts.

Gulping, Hyung Seok questioned for them, “Do we have to wear this?”

The hosts just smiled and nodded, “Only the hosts have done it while the idols guesting on here have never done this. It was the PD’s and your manager’s idea.” Glancing at the two, he continued, “With the idea being: none of you guys have done it before, so we are going to let your first time be on Weekly Idol.”

Their heads turned towards the black-haired man sitting down, wearing glasses – a relatively friendly looking guy before catching a glimpse of their manager. Seeing her smile, they shivered.

Glancing at each other, the three knew that they had no say in this as they admitted their defeat, and went off stage to change.

The three other members of _Lookism_ could only stare as they didn’t know what was going on.

* * *

 

Once they got ready, Hyeong-don started to introduce the ‘new’ group, “This group, who has not officially debuted yet, is very excited to show their first public appearance on here. Now, for the first time in Weekly Idol, these idols are showing themselves on TV.” Facing backstage, he continued, “ _Lookism girls!_ ”

Walking on stage, two black-haired males blushed. Jin Sung had a face that was barely tolerating it while Jang Hyeon walked with confidence, seemingly unfazed.

There, in front of them, stood Jang Hyeon with long pink hair, holding onto a sign saying, “ _Lookism girls_ ”; Hyung Seok with black, mid-length hair; and Jin Sung with black, shoulder-length hair. All wearing red shirts with their name on it.

Seeing that they weren’t introducing themselves, the two hosts started to take it into their own hands, “To our viewer, Ewkfubksbdfksfdbskfb!”

Knowing that they were supposed to introduce themselves when they say that, they bowed their heads, “Hello! Beauty is only skin deep!”

Doing their signature pose, they stuttered, “We are _Lookism g-girls_!”

The two black-haired males, placing their heads down, started recalling the moment they told them about the missing group:

_Arriving at the set, the six started looking around._

_Spotting FBC, they had already assumed that they’d be there, so they didn’t have much of a reaction when they saw them. Seeing no other group, they turned towards Soo Jeong._

_Bum Jae asked, “Where’s the other group?”_

_Giving a hesitant pause, the others started to get suspicious, but didn’t question it._

_She later smiled, showing no signs of some of them later crossdressing, “You’ll find out later.”_

* * *

 

Amused, FBC watched as they saw the three have a hard time dealing with slight embarrassment.

However, they later get over it as all they had to wear was a wig.

Being allowed to wear pants did wonders.

Hyeong-don turned towards _Lookism_ , “Now, let’s start with _Lookism_. Please introduce your single.”

Seeing that their leader was currently in a different team, Bum Jae took it upon himself to answer it, “The song is about fighting to become the King.”

Hearing him stop his explaining there, Hyeong-don nodded, “Can we see a little of your song?”

Glancing at the three ‘girls’ their eyes went back to the hosts, waiting for permission.

Hyeong-don blinked, “What? You want _Lookism girls_ to dance with you?”

They nodded.

Hyeong-don sighed and shook his head, “They’re not in the same group, so we can’t let them.”

After seeing their dejected faces, Hyeong-don permitted them to do it. “Well, since you both have, ‘ _Lookism_ ’ in your names, I’ll let this go for now.”

Getting into positions, they heard the music play.

* * *

 

Seeing that they finished, everyone clapped.

The camera switched to Hyeong-don, “FBC, please introduce your song.”

“It’s a song with a unique melody with a tune that stands out.”

“Please dance your song for us.”

**< NEVER>**

“ _Never_.”

Hearing that, they knew exactly where they were supposed to go.

They outstretched their arms in an open position before placing them together while moving their legs and placing them apart, elbows bent.

Placing their hand near their belt, they jump before placing their right arm going up their chest while their other arm started from the bottom, extended, then went up.

Moving their arms down, they move to the left while their extended right arm went to their left side before swinging back to the right and their other arm going up on the other side.

Pulling their bent arms up in front of them, they move it up before throwing their arms, then put their arms to their chest and placing their left arm, extended out, while the other arm went on it, bent.

Changing places, they move their right arm while moving. Bending down, Chi Hoon and Jiho go up while their arms were down before going back up. While doing that, Tae Jun stared above as he sang, “Oh ee oh~”

Moving their legs up and down to their knees, they move their bent arms up and down.

Placing their right arm on their chest, they dragged it across before putting them down and moving their leg sideways while their bent arms went up; bent and sideways.

They smoothly put their arms down.

They began lip-synching, “ _I love you_.”

Turning around, they bent down on the ground with Jiho standing in the middle.

The music stopped there.

Everyone clapped while _Lookism_ was reminded of the performance they saw on the laptop.

* * *

 

The screen switching, everyone showed up, sitting down on chairs.

“Weekly Idol guarantees! Trust in variety idol!”

They all placed one extended arm out while the other arm went horizontally across their chest, “Trust in variety idol!”

They started clapping at the intro of what they were going to do.

“In ‘Trust in variety idol’ Weekly Idol guarantees the variety talent of the winning team.”

“Let’s take a look.” The hosts started pointing at the direction of a large, human sized piece of cardboard.

Everyone let out an awed sound upon seeing the board.

Noticing the scratched-out names of “Heechul and Hani”, Defconn explained:

“To save money, instead of making another one, we just wrote Jeong Hyeong-don’s name with a sharpie at the bottom.”

Defconn went up to the board, “Variety guarantee.”

“We’ll guarantee it as mentioned below.” He pointed at the spot.

“1. We guarantee that this idol, who passed through the strict variety examination process of Weekly Idol, has variety talent.”

“2. Weekly Idol only guarantees and does not take responsibility for the idol’s variety programs after this.”

The two rookie groups clapped with some of them laughing at the statement.

“3. If there are problems with the idol’s variety skills, please contact their company.”

“It is your freedom to go and tell others that you are guaranteed by Weekly Idol, but when you say it, don’t mention our names. That’s what you have to do.”

Smiling, they nodded before clapping.

Taking over, Hyeong-don continued, “We don’t just give you the guarantee, we also give you a special benefit. What is it? At the end of the show, the team with the guarantee will get a closing performance with their song.”

“We have done so many games, out of all those, we have prepared three games that can evaluate you as a variety-dol.”

“Before we say the game, who here knows how to fight?”

Everyone excluding Jang Hyeon and Jiho, raised their hand.

Amazed at the sight, Hyeong-don uttered, “Ohh, that’s quite a lot of you.”

“The first ‘Trust in variety idol’ game is the ‘Strength Game’.”

Once they heard that, the staff appeared on stage with a punching machine.

The idols let out a sound of surprise while a pompadour smirked at the familiar machine.

“This may be the first time we ever done this, but seeing how the majority knows how to fight, we’ll do it.”

“This is going to be a relatively fast game compared to the others; in this game, one person will punch the punching machine with as much pressure as they can. Whoever scores the highest will win this round. If someone wants to avenge their group member to get a better score, feel free to do so.”

Turning towards _Lookism girls_ , he stared at Jin Sung:

“Jinsung, I heard that you did boxing in middle school.”

Jin Sung, respective to elders, nodded, “Yes.”

“Since you did martial arts in middle school, you’ll be one of the last ones to punch the punching machine.”

He made a sound of agreement, understanding while he secretly glanced at Hyung Seok and Vasco, cautious.

Hyeong-don turned towards FBC and LKM, “Who’s first?”

Having a staring showdown, Jae Yeol ended up winning for the team, making FBC go first.

Sighing from losing the staring contest, Chi Hoon stood up, “I’ll go.”

Walking towards the punching machine, he does an upright stance before he goes in for a cross – a powerful straight punch thrown with the rear end.

The sound of his fist impacting with the machine was loud.

Hearing the sound, the hosts let out an, “Ohh!”

The score showed up as 700.

Once Chi Hoon went back to his team, they high-fived him, saying, “Good job.”

Seeing the score, they clapped while Hyeong-don announced, “FBC gets 700.”

“ _Lookism_ is next.”

The three in that team observed each other, wondering who should go up.

Wanting to participate, Vasco stood up.

Bum Jae sweatdropped, but other than that, stayed quiet.

Doing his normal stance, he stares at the machine before his hand went out in a blur.

Hearing the sound from the punch, Hyeong-don and Defconn almost stood up, “Ohh!”

“ _Lookism_ has 850!”

Surprised, FBC were taken aback.

Seeing Jin Sung getting ready, an experienced boxer, they knew one thing:

They were going to lose, huh.

“ _Lookism girls_ got 892!”

Smirking, Jin Sung felt smug for beating Vasco in something.

While Jin Sung walked back, Hyung Seok gawked; remembering the moment he fought Jin Sung, he wondered how he beat him.

Jang Hyeon, proud for having Jin Sung on his team for the first time in ever, placed his arm around his shoulder, “I knew I could count on you, Jinsung!”

That added to his smugness as he just nodded and agreed with his words.

Defconn went ahead and asked, “Is there anyone who wants to avenge their team?”

Tae Jun raised his hand.

As if he was confident, he gave off a friendly smile, “I’ll give it a try.”

Letting him go, Tae Jun did an upright stance before his eyes turned serious.

In a flash, his hand struck the machine.

“903!”

Satisfied with the result, Tae Jun walked back while glancing at Jang Hyeon before Chi Hoon ruffled his black-hair.

“That’s the leader of FBC!”

The atmosphere started to get heavy for some reason, the set burning with rookie passion.

**Things are getting heated up in the 3 rd level basement**

Hyeong-don blinked, “This is getting intense for some reason. I thought that this was going to end fast and boringly at that. I didn’t expect it to turn into a tournament.”

Realizing how serious they were from his words, they laughed it off.

How could they not get serious? They haven’t fought in forever that some of the _Lookism_ members are twitching to fight someone.

“Is anyone willing to step in?”

In the silence, a certain blondie raised his hand.

Surprised that he was the one willing to join in, they didn’t know what to expect as they clearly let out their doubt, “Oh, J?”

Getting ready, Jae Yeol glanced at Hyung Seok for a split second before deciding to hit the machine.

Leaning in to see the score, the hosts gaped:

“930!”

Seeing the score, they stood up from the excitement.

Hyeong-don, confused, turned towards Defconn, “Why are we getting so excited over someone punching a machine?”

Jae Yeol nodded his head while his group members complimented him.

FBC could only stare as Jiho gritted his teeth in silence.

 _Lookism girls_ made eye-contact with each other before Hyung Seok raised his hand.

“Oh, Hyungseok wants to give it a shot?”

Stepping up to the machine, his flowing, long black-hair made it seem dramatic as his footsteps resounded throughout the set.

Seeing him step up, _Lookism_ were already admitting defeat while FBC were just cautious – not knowing his strength.

Seeing the reactions of the idols, the hosts assumed that Hyung Seok was strong, but kept that to themselves.

Recalling the steps Jin Sung told him when he was in his other body, he got into position.

Anticipation filled the room as Hyung Seok stared at the center of the machine.

Leaning towards the boy, they waited for him to punch the machine.

Without seeing the process of the punch, before they knew it, they were already staring at Hyung Seok looking at the score he made.

Gawking, the hosts jumped up from their seats, Hyeong-don shouting, “980! _Lookism girls_ win!”

Knowing that they weren’t going to get a better score, the other teams could only smile it off as they clapped.

 _Lookism girls_ were cheering as Jin Sung smirked, proud with Jang Hyeon patting Hyung Seok’s head.

* * *

 

Back to sitting down, the atmosphere calm again, Defconn introduced the next game.

“This showdown is the cover dance selection.”

**Cover Dance Contest**

Everyone clapped.

He explained the game, “So first, when you hear the song you know just come to the front and dance.”

“What’s important is that the person who makes our heart flutter will be favorable.”

“It has nothing to do with dancing well.” Hyeong-don gave his side comment, “Not at all.”

Continuing, Hyeong-don looked to the side before going back to looking at the idols, “People who know it just run up the front.”

“Music, start!”

Sitting, _Lookism_ knew that they had a chance in winning against FBC if their dancing practices had a say in it. Their only worry is their dance choreography, himself, Jang Hyeon.

**< Mr. Chu by APINK>**

" _Mr. Chu._ "

Jang Hyeon, Hyung Seok, Jang Hyeon, and Tae Jun all stood up.

They started dancing, having their legs a little farther apart than shoulder length while they leaned to the left. Jang Hyeon’s right arm bent upwards near his head with his other arm on his hip while everyone else had both arms on their hips.

During, “On my lips,” he closed his hand during the first syllable of the word while they all bounced on the left and right of the syllables before ending up on the right.

Putting their legs together with their left leg slightly popping out, they all placed their bent right arm, horizontally near their chest before bringing it up clockwise to be next to their head; making a gun with their hand while bending their legs a little.

Watching this from the seats, the ones who didn’t go up could only watch as they felt like they were able to keep some of their dignity.

Placing their hands on their thighs, they lift their right leg up before dragging their hands up and moving to stand with both legs next to each other; Jang Hyeon placed the tips of his hands on his mouth while everyone except for Tae Jun, placed both arms on their side as they bent their legs and swayed back and forth as their arms went up. During that, Tae Jun started walking up to the front, his right arm going up, he placed it back down.

“You shake up my heart.”

Going back together, they all stepped to the right as their arms bent on their sides before crossing their arms as their other leg went behind the leg and then behind their back when their right leg went out as they moved their hip slightly while doing so, twice.

“You shake me up.”

Bringing their arms back to make an x sign with their arms, they do the same move, but go left this time with Tae Jun placing his right arm bent with his hand going upwards with the bottom of the hand on his head and his other arm was on his side, hand going outwards. While he was doing that, the rest placed their arms behind their back as they stepped with their left leg.

“ _I’m falling-_ ”

Everyone lifted their left leg up as they placed their right arm up above their head with their hand going sideways. They were in the middle of changing positions when the music changed.

**< Run by BTS>**

"At least I can I smile when I see you."

All six of _Lookism_ went up, Jang Hyeon having drilled BTS’s songs into their bones, with Tae Jun going back to the center.

Trying to get a spot, he ends up going back to his seat because of the number disadvantage.

**He retreats from intimidation**

“There’s too many of them!” Tae Jun tried to get back there again, only to go back to his seat.

Taking the center position, Hyung Seok had Jae Yeol on his left and Jang Hyeon on his right; in the back, from left to right: Jin Sung, Vasco, and Bum Jae.

Running to the center, they all reach the ground, their arm nearly touching it with their face facing the floor. They slowly moved their top body up before snapping their head to the camera.

“I-”

Bending their right leg up behind them, they move their bent right arm across their chest.

“ _Run_ , _run_ , _run_. I can’t stop.”

Placing their leg down, they move their other arm across their chest while the right arm went on their sides before stepping with their left leg and hitting the left side with their right arm. Turning to the right with their right leg, they moved their left arm across them as it went on the left side.

Amazed by the perfect cover, Hyeong-don commented, “It looks like they practiced this.”

**Cover Dance ended up as a group cover**

Moving their left leg up, they move their hands up as they placed the leg down by the toe while moving their hands on their shirts. Placing their left foot flat, their right foot went on the toe before placing it back to only the left leg being on the toe.

“ _Run, run, run_ again I can’t help it.”

Jumping back to the front, they placed their right leg behind their left as they moved their right arm’s elbow up to the side, slanting a little before moving their right leg out on their right while their left arm bent down. Their right arm went outwards as they went to their left with their left leg. Moving their right leg in front and the other behind, they do the same move above, but with the opposite foot.

“This is all I can do-”

Kicking their left leg to their left, they hit their right foot’s heel on the ground before going back in front. Moving places, the song stopped.

Surprised by the sudden group cover, Hyeong-don asked, “Did you guys practice this?”

They nodded. “Yes.”

“I made sure they did.”

Hearing that, they turned towards the leader, “Ahh. That makes sense. You seem like the type.”

Not quite sure what he meant, he smiled it off while the others happened to understand what he meant.

**< TT by TWICE>**

"The more I am drawn to you and attracted to you  _baby_."

Knowing that it was a girl song, Vasco, Bum Jae, and Jin Sung sat down; they’ll leave the dancing to their other group members.

Seeing the decrease in numbers and knowing that they’re failing compared to LKM, Chi Hoon and Jiho come to Tae Jun’s rescue.

The six standing up all got ready to dance.

“ _I’m like TT_.”

The three from _Lookism_ hit their lap with their right leg slightly going up while the trio glanced at them; not quite sure what the dance moves are. Seeing the two girls and one boy place their arms up, bent, they all do the same moves. Placing their hands next to their cheeks, they made a T sign – index finger facing down as their thumb goes out – with their hands.

Being the ‘cuties’ that they are, Jang Hyeon, Jiho, and Tae Jun exaggerated the cute slight sway of their hips while pouting. Too embarrassed to pout, when he attempted to, Hyung Seok blushed right away as he smiled from feeling the cringe. Jae Yeol didn’t even change his facial expression, he did keep his eyes on a certain wig-wearing male – giving a faint blush as he made sure not to stare at Hyung Seok too much.

Amused, the hosts didn’t know what to think of the facial expressions of the six dancers.

The three from _Lookism_ placed their left leg out a little before hitting it.

“ _Just like TT_.”

Placing their hands back up, they did the same dance with the same exaggerated pout – excluding two certain idols – they lift their left leg out.

“You don’t know how I feel.”

Placing it back down, they all placed their hands above their chest, near their shoulders, before lifting their right leg up and placing it back down while the ‘girl’s’ hair flipped a little while moving their heads to the right side.

“You’re so mean x2.”

Moving their left leg up, they move their arms in an open position with their heads moving to the left before they placed it back down with their arms going underneath their armpits. After doing that, they repeated the same moves.

“ _I’m like TT_.”

Doing the same moves as the last time the lines were sang, the trio made sure to be extra cute to make up for their small mistakes with the leader of LKM doing the expressions and correct dance moves; immersing himself with the dance. The duo merely made sure that they danced the right moves to make up for their lack of expressions.

“ _Just like TT_.”

Placing their hands back up, they repeated the move with two idols not showing pouts.

Doing a slight difference, Jang Hyeon in the front, Hyung Seok in the back with Jae Yeol, and Tae Jun with his crew in their own bunch on the left side of them.

Hearing the, “Ah,” Jang Hyeon bent his knees and moved his hips a little while the two remained standing.

Tae Jun glanced at their side, surprised by the accuracy in dancing.

Hyeong-don and Defconn laughed at the teamwork they had.

**Boy and Girl (x2) Power**

Doing the same ‘T’ thing with their hands, Jang Hyeon stayed standing while the two bent their legs and wiggled their hips this time – Hyung Seok holding back a cringe.

**< Blood Sweat & Tears by BTS>**

"I can't reject it anyway."

Listening to another BTS song made the rest of Lookism stand up; not wanting to know what would happen if they didn’t dance to a group that Jang Hyeon made them dance to a thousand times.

“I can’t even escape anymore.”

Sensing more people coming, the trio immediately wanted to go back to their seats; knowing that they wouldn’t have any space to dance if they stayed. Since there was some space when they were all up, the trio figured that they should dance this song as well.

“You are too sweet, two sweet.”

Everyone slowly wiped their chin with their left hand before stepping with their right leg and switching the hand with their right one.

“Because you are too sweet.”

 _Lookism_ , knowing the choreography, moved places with a certain leader joining in – Hyung Seok moving to the front center; Jae Yeol on his left and Jang Hyeon on the right with Tae Jun right next to him; Jin Sung in the back middle, Bum Jae on his left and Vasco on his right – while the Jiho and Chi Hoon stayed in the same spot; not risking on doing something they haven’t practiced before.

Hyeong-don and Defconn couldn’t help noticing the extra member, adding a tint of blue in the crowd of black and red. 

When the next lines, “My blood sweat and tears,” came on, they all danced:

The seven in their own respective directions, moved their head up with their right hand on their chin before moving their head to the left as the placed the hand on the back of their head. The duo, not quite knowing the dance, did it the same way, but looked a little sloppy.

Seeing Tae Jun fit right in with the LKM members, the hosts laughed as they watched the remaining two of the trio mess up here and there, but wouldn’t have been very noticeable if they weren’t put right next to the seven of them.

Placing their left hand on their belt with some of the others placing it on their thigh, they spread their legs out, bent. Doing a slight body roll, they all snap their top body in a certain direction before quickly moving in the opposite side while the rest moved more on the side they were already on – slightly exaggerating the move.

During the quick snappy moves, Jin Sung’s wig fell off, dancing too intensely.

“Oh, your wig, Jinsung!”

Moving fast one last time, they all stand with their right leg in front with their arms down beside their sides. Moving their left leg up, they place it more on the left side with their left arm in that direction and other leg bent slightly diagonally in front.

Placing their left leg back up, they place it back down in a circular motion before moving their chest body a little up fast and placing their left hand going over their chest to the right side of their shoulder.

Placing the hand down, they switch to the right swiping the shoulder before moving their chest outwards.

The seven moved places while jumping – the two from the trio not moving from their places.

“My blood sweat and tears.”

Hyeong-don clapped alongside Defconn, “Wah~”

Once they went back to their seats – Jin Sung grabbing his wig before placing it back on – Hyeong-don asked, “Tae Jun, did you perhaps practice the songs with _Lookism_?”

Tae Jun laughed, “No. I practiced other idol group’s songs in my spare time while the other members continued to practice our songs.”

“Oh~”

“So, basically, you prioritized covering songs more than practicing your own songs.”

The black-haired male quickly shook his head, “No, no, no. I just happened to be a little ahead of them, so I spent that time on practicing other songs.”

The hosts only nodded; seemingly not believing him, “Whatever you say.”

Tae Jun gawked, experiencing this kind of treatment for the first time.

Hyeong-don moved on, “Since we can’t decide who to pick, we’ll let you guys choose representatives for your team. Each group will have one person to go up. Since _Lookism_ has two groups, meaning they’ll have two representatives, FBC can have two representatives as well.”

Agreeing with the terms, they started glancing at their teammates. Whispering among themselves they eventually make up their decision.

“Now, could the representatives stand up in the front, please.”

Jae Yeol, Tae Jun, Chi Hoon, and Jang Hyeon stood up.

Walking up to the center, they waited for the song to play.

**< Russian Roulette by Red Velvet>**

"I see you, not knowing what to do."

Recognizing the song, Jae Yeol and Jang Hyeon immediately start dancing while the other two are still processing what the dance moves are. Recalling what the moves were, everyone started dancing together – one pair dancing it correctly and the other pair barely passing off as the dance.

They placed their right hand on their chest area while their legs were shoulder length apart. Leaning their chest to the right, they move their right hand away from their chest while hitting it during the stutter, “ _b-b-beat_ ,” before they place their legs next to each other. Placing their arms near their thighs, they all reach out with their arms as their top body went along.

“It’s getting faster.”

Facing the front, they moved their arms across their body. Stepping to the left, they move their arms diagonally up in that direction. Placing their arms back down, they move their left leg back before walking across the right leg, and placing it back next to it.

Moving their bent right arm up, they put it down to do the same with the other arm while slightly moving the leg on the side the arm went up on.

Turning to the left with the left leg, they place their right hand on their chest for a split second before reaching out in front of them.

Turning to the other direction, they clap their hands.

**< VERY NICE by Seventeen>**

"My whole body is itching and beating."

Moving automatically, Jae Yeol and Jang Hyeon turn around, their backs facing the camera as their heads turn to the right. Catching them doing that, FBC copied them, trying to dance as much as they can.

“What is this sensation, what do I do.”

The boy and girl duo turned their heads to the left before turning around and raising their right arm up, while the other duo imitated them, “Very-”

Everyone spread their legs apart, bent as they grabbed their head with their hand while the other one was touching the bottom of their back.

“ _nice_.”

They gave a slight jump forward with their legs while managing to keep the same position, twice. 

Placing their legs back together, they place their hands on their belt. Stepping with the right foot to the right, they quickly place their left leg behind them, and continuously go backwards, going with the step on the right, then left before going right, left and right and left again. They placed their legs back together.

**< Fire by BTS>**

"It's on fire."

Registering the sound of Suga’s line, Jang Hyeon suddenly got hyped as he pushed his way to the center.

Not affected by his leader’s actions, Jae Yeol starts to dance diagonally behind him with Tae Jun tagging along. Chi Hoon still didn’t quite catch the moves as he stared in confusion, his face clearly showing that he doesn’t know the dance.

The four had their legs a little further than shoulder-width. Jumping to the left while their arms go to their right side – the left one below the right, making it look like a greater than sign. Pulling their arms down, they jump to the right and do the same move, but in the opposite direction with slightly different position of their arms.

Finally recalling the moves, Chi Hoon was too late as the three were intimidating enough to not make him want to join in the dance; making him walk to the side before giving up and walking to his seat.

**The sheep goes back to his habitat as the handsome wolves continue to dance**

Hyeong-don noticed this, surprised, “Why are you going back to your seat? Don’t you know the dance moves?”

Chi Hoon smiled sheepishly, “It’s too intimidating up there.”

“ _Eh_ , _eh oh_ , _eh oh_.”

The now dancing trio move to the right as they slowly lean with their arms move from right, left, to right during the beats of the music.

“Set everything on fire.”

Bending their legs, they place their arms on their thighs for a second before Jang Hyeon jumped to the back, hitting his right hand, while the other two jumps out of the way – Jae Yeol on the left and Tae Jun on the right.

Jumping further in the back, Jang Hyeon – his wig happening to fall off his head – along with the other two, bend their knees as they hit their hands and place their right arm horizontally under their chin as their other arm went down before crossing the left arm.

“ _Bow wow wow_.”

They place their arms out while they move with their left and right feet. Moving their right hand near their face, they move the other hand on the other side. They point their hands down before jumping slightly as their heads faced down. Lifting their heads, they point up with their right and left arm moving slightly, three times.

Widening the gap in between their legs, they bend their top body as their arms make a horizontal line before going down and lifting the top part up as they lift their right hand up to their face and placing it down as the other hand does the same thing.

Hyeong-don and Defconn appreciated the view before them as the non-dancing idols cheered for their members.

“ _Fire_ -”

Jang Hyeon started turning his body around, and was having fun, but it was short lived as the music stopped.

Everyone sitting down clapped as Hyeong-don stated, “Everyone danced good, but I felt more feelings radiating off of Eli.” Pointing in the girls’ direction, he clapped, “The winner of the ‘Cover Dance’ is _Lookism girls_!”

 _Lookism girls_ cheered for Eli as _Lookism_ and FBC comforted the loss of their member.

* * *

 

Everyone sat down as they listened to Hyeong-don say, “The final game is the ‘Whisper Challenge’!”

“For this section, _Lookism_ or _Lookism girls_ will have to sit out for this part. This is the last game, so to make it fairer for FBC, one of _Lookism’s_ groups won’t participate.” He faced towards the whole _Lookism_ group, “However, if you feel like it’s unfair to use one or the other team, you’re allowed to mix the boys and girls up in your group.”

Nodding from hearing that, they glance at their choices for their group.

Forming their group, it ended up with Jae Yeol, Vasco, and Hyung Seok.

Once they agreed on the group, a staff member came out with headphones.

Grabbing the headphones, Hyeong-don explained, “In this game, everyone in the team will wear the these, except for the one giving the word. Whoever can get the most correct out of three words, wins. If both of you have the same amount correct, we’ll do it on how long it took you.”

Recognizing the rules, Jang Hyeon blinked, “Eh?”

Turning to look at the team, he sweatdropped.

The group consisted of a selective mute, Jae Yeol; someone who messes up words, Vasco; and a boy bad at guessing games, Hyung Seok.

Not fully losing hope, he asked Defconn, “Can we still change groups?”

Defconn shook his head, “No. Once the group is chosen, you can’t change it.”

The leader sighed, whispering, “We’re doomed.”

Hyeong-don, testing out the headphones, made sure he couldn’t hear anything.

“Yeah, you can’t hear anything.”

Double checking the silence, he later hands the pair of headphones to Jae Yeol and Hyung Seok.

Hyeong-don, turning towards Vasco, made sure he knew the rules:

“You can’t make a face or use hand gestures. Also, you can only attempt on saying the word twice.”

Hyung Seok and Jae Yeol facing the right, Vasco faced the hosts; the hosts being the left side.

Seeing Vasco nod, he shouted, “Ready, start!”

Defconn showed Vasco the phrase, “If you don’t walk today, you must run tomorrow (oneul geotji aneumyeon),” on a piece of cardboard before closing it when Vasco nodded before tapping Jae Yeol’s shoulder.

The blondie turning around, he stared at Vasco’s lips as he slowly moved them.

“Oneul.”

Jae Yeol moved his lips, “Oneul.”

Seeing this, the hosts sighed, “J’s really not going to talk.”

Nodding, Vasco slowly worded out, “Geot-chi.”

Everyone turned towards Vasco, the hosts and FBC startled before laughing.

Jin Sung shouting, “It’s geotji! Don’t pronounce it wrong!”

**Seems like they’ll get the word wrong for a different reason**

Jae Yeol blinked, knowing that it wasn’t right, moved his lips, nonetheless, “…geotchi?”

Vasco moved on, “An-eum-yeon.”

“Aneumyeon.”

“Na-iil.”

Laughing again, the _Lookism_ trio couldn’t help falling onto the ground.

“Pronounce it right, Vasco!”

Jae Yeol’s head tilted a little, “Na-iil?”

“Tt-wie-oya.”

“Ttwieoya.”

“Han-da.”

“Handa.”

Satisfied, Vasco did it again, “Oneul geotchi aneumyeon naiil ttwieoya handa!”

 _Lookism_ trio, crouching on the ground, could only smile, hoping for the best.

The hosts laughed, “We don’t know if he understands since we can’t hear him.”

Despite not being able to see Jae Yeol’s face, it was obvious that he was confused.

Turning around, Jae Yeol tapped Hyung Seok’s shoulder.

Processing the words in his head, a light bulb appeared above his head before his lips started.

“Oneul geotji aneumyeon naeil ttwieoya handa.”

The spectators, not being able to hear him, somewhat knew that Jae Yeol got it right as they shouted, “Oh!”

Now understanding what Vasco was trying to word out, Jae Yeol repeated it, but slower.

“On-eul geo-tji an-eum-yeon na-eil tt-wie-oya han-da.”

Taking a second, Hyung Seok perked up before shouting, “If you don’t walk today, you must run tomorrow!”

Everyone let out a surprised sound as they wondered how they got the right saying out.

Showing Vasco the next word, _Lookism_ took this chance to shout at him, “Say it right!”

Reading the word in front of _Lookism_ , to make sure he’s right, he nodded:

“You make my heart flutter (dangshin ttaemune gaseumi seolleyo).”

Giving their approval, _Lookism_ watched as Vasco poked Jae Yeol.

He turned around, wondering if he’s going to pronounce the correct words this time.

“Dangshin ttaemune gaseumi seolleyo.”

Jae Yeol held out his index finger, meaning that he wanted to hear him say it again.

Saying it slower, Vasco shouted each syllable, “Dang! Shin! Ttae! Mu! Ne! Ga! Seu! Mi! Seol! Le! Yo!”

Feeling like saying it again, he shouted it once more, “You make my heart flutter!”

Seeing Vasco about to shout it again, Jae Yeol placed a hand on his shoulder. Shaking his head, he gave an OK sign with his fingers, wording out an, “OK.”

Laughing at the scene, they were all amused seeing Vasco’s shouting face as he tried to make sure he knew what he was saying.

Touching Hyung Seok’s shoulder he got him to turn around.

Watching Hyung Seok’s face, he smiled, “You make my heart flutter.”

Getting it in one try, Hyung Seok’s face heated up.

Hyeong-don’s smile grew as he snickered, “Why are you blushing?”

Amused at his teammate’s flushed face, he lip-synched it again, “Dangshin ttaemune gaseumi seolleyo.”

Noticing a rare occurrence, _Lookism_ caught what Jae Yeol was doing; he was teasing Hyung Seok.

They understood why. Hyung Seok just gave the best reactions when he was being teased that they occasionally teased him, themselves.

Calming himself down, the long, black-haired female repeated, “You make my heart flutter!”

Seeing how well things were going, everyone felt admiration at Jae Yeol for correcting Vasco’s mistakes and somehow wording the word correctly without verbally saying it.

“This is the last word,” Hyeong-don showed Vasco, “You’re so beautiful, you’re driving me crazy (dangshineun neomu areumdawoseo nal michige hae).”

Getting Jae Yeol to turn around, Vasco shouted, “Dang-shin-eun neo-mu a-reum-da-wo-seo nal mi-chi-ge hae!”

Saying it again slower, Jae Yeol nodded before he made Hyung Seok turn around.

Jae Yeol worded out, “Dangshinen neomu areumdawoso nal michie hae.”

Tilting his head, Hyung Seok raised his finger up.

“One more time!”

The blondie tried again as he tried to understand what he was trying word out, “Dangshinen? Neomu. Areumdawoso? Nal. Michie? Hae.”

Noticing his confused look, Jae Yeol realized what the phrase was as he pointed at Hyung Seok, “You’re so beautiful, you’re driving me crazy.”

Hyung Seok, making an, “ah,” sound, turned towards the camera.

**Will he get it right?**

Time slowed down before Hyung Seok smiled:

“You’re so beautiful, you’re driving me crazy.”

Everyone clapped their hands while the two took off their headphones.

Hyeong-don let out a, “wahh,” as he wondered, “How did you understand what he was trying to say, Hyungseok? He didn’t say it aloud, at all.”

Hyung Seok blinked as if he didn’t understand why the host was amazed, “He was making the right mouth movements.”

It was silent for a second before the hosts nodded, “Right. He was making the right movements. Of course.”

Not understanding what happened, Hyung Seok went along with it, smiling.

Leaning near the person saying something offset, Hyeong-don heard the time.

“Two minutes and fifteen seconds!”

FBC made an oh sound as they prepared themselves.

Once FBC was prepared, Chi Hoon and Tae Jun wearing headphones, they showed Jiho the phrase, “I need you in my life (je salme dangshini pilyohamnida).”

Patting Chi Hoon, the brown-haired male turned around, dancing to the music.

“Je.”

Stopping his dancing, Chi Hoon’s eyes scrunched up, “E?”

He shook his head before his face turned a little tense, “Je.”

“Ie?”

Jiho shook his head as he started to get impatient, “Je!”

“Je?”

This time, Jiho was extra careful to get the next part out as he put his tongue on the roof of his mouth and made an obvious m sound, “Sal-me.”

Chi Hoon nodded, “Sal-me.”

“Dang-shi-ni.”

“Dang-chi-ni.”

Jiho felt like hitting Chi Hoon.

“Dang-SHI-ni.”

Chi Hoon bounced a little in his steps, still listening to the music, “Dang-CHI-ni.”

Defconn made Jiho go to the next part before he could attempt on making Chi Hoon say the right one.

“Pi-lyo-ham-ni-da.”

“Pi-lo-ham-ni-da.”

Jiho’s face tensed up.

“JE SAL-ME DANG-SHI-NI PI-LYO-HAM-NI-DA!”

Hyeong-don turned Chi Hoon around as Jiho cringed, dooming their failure.

Slapping Tae Jun twice, he watched as Tae Jun turned around, also dancing.

“This is a nice song.” Tae Jun danced some more, making Chi Hoon also dance, forgetting about the game for a second.

Seeing this, Jiho shouted at them, “Hey! Continue the game!”

Catching his way of speech, the hosts both playfully widened their eyes, “Is that any way to speak to someone older than you?”

Apologizing, he tried again, “Excuse me! Please continue the game!”

Satisfied, the hosts nodded, “That’s better.”

 _Lookism_ , seeing how much worse the other team was, couldn’t help laughing as they started to recover their hope.

Finally continuing, they danced.

“Je sal-me dang-CHI-ni pi-lo-ham-ni-da.”

The leader blinked as he leaned a little closer to Chi Hoon, confused.

“What?”

“Je.”

“Je.”

“Sal-me.”

“Sal-me.”

“Dang-chi-ni.”

The leader furrowed his eyebrows, “Jjang-chi-ni?”

The ones watching chuckled, clearly taking joy from watching them as Jiho fell on his knees, shaking his head.

“Pi-lo-ham-ni-da.”

“Pi-lyo-ham-ni-da?”

Hearing that part correct, they watched in interest as the youngest of the group started to regain faith in his team.

His brain gears turning, Tae Jun’s light bulb turned on.

He faced the camera, “I need you in my life!”

Everyone clapped before Defconn showed the next one, “You’re handsome (neo jal saeng-kyeot-da).”

Hitting Chi Hoon on his sides, the older of the two turned around.

“Neo.”

“Neo.”

“Jal.”

“Jjal.”

Shaking his head, he tried again, “Jal!”

“Jjal.”

Giving up, he went on, “Saeng-kyeot-da.”

“Chang… kyeot… cha.”

“Saeng! Kyeot! Da!”

“Chang-kyeot-cha!”

The brown-haired giving himself a thumbs up, Chi Hoon faced Tae Jun’s back before getting him to turn around.

“Neo jjal chang-kyeot-da.”

Jiho laughed along everyone else as he gave up on Chi Hoon.

Tae Jun tilted his head before attempting to repeat the poor boy’s reading skills.

“Neo… jjal… chang-kyeot-da?”

Biting his lip, his eyes widened before he raised his hand:

“You’re handsome!”

“The final word,” Hyeong-don warned as he showed, “Are you crazy? (noh mi-cheoss-oh?).”

Sighing, he got Chi Hoon to turn around.

Angry at his mispronunciation so far, he shouted as if he was directly asking him, “NOH MI-CHEOSS-OH?!”

Taken aback, Chi Hoon shouted back, “Noh mi-cheoss-oh?!”

The hosts were impressed that Chi Hoon finally got something right.

Tae Jun staring at a wall, turned around when he felt someone touch his shoulder.

“NOH MI-CHEOSS-OH?!”

Surprised, Tae Jun blinked before understanding.

“Oh.”

He raised his hand, “Are you crazy?”

Once they took their headphones off, Hyeong-don announced.

“Four minutes and thirty seconds!”

“ _Lookism_ wins!”

* * *

 

Everyone in their seats, Hyeong-don announced:

“ _Lookism girls_ has 2 points. _Lookism_ has 0 points, but playing with both groups, they got 3 points! Unfortunately, FBC didn’t get any points.” Facing the six-member group, he pointed at them with his emcee card, “Today’s variety show guarantee goes to _Lookism_!”

The ‘Trust in Variety Idol’ cardboard came back on set as Defconn handed it over to _Lookism_.

Clapping, FBC took their loss quite well, acknowledging their loss.

**Congratulations to the next Weekly Idol believe-dol, _Lookism_!**

Explaining some more, Hyeong-don clapped, “Because _Lookism_ took the guarantee, the closing song will be _Lookism’s_.”

Hyeong-don faced the trio.

“How was today, FBC?”

As the leader of the group, Tae Jun started, “We’re very grateful to be on one of the most well-known variety shows-”

Defconn cut in, “Flattery isn’t going to let you win.”

As everyone – excluding the hosts – laughed, Tae Jun shook his hands, “I was being honest.”

Hyeong-don gestured towards them, “Continue.”

“Even though we didn’t get any points, I think it’s okay as long as we had fun.” His group members nudged him, not fully agreeing.

Ignoring them, he continued, “To be able to appear on Weekly Idol again, we’ll work harder and become better idols than we are now.”

Nodding at his answer, Hyeong-don faced the three girls and boys, “What about, _Lookism_?”

Jang Hyeon twirled his hair as he smiled, “Being on here has been an honor. Since we appeared on here, it now feels like we officially became idols. The next time we appear-”

Defconn, once again, commented, “Who said you’re going to appear again?”

Smiling at his mistake, he reworded it, “ _To appear on here again_ , we’ll get more experience and do a better job than now.”

Clapping at their response, the hosts began, “Weekly Idol is always open for idols. We’re also always looking for idols who want to shine. Until now, it has been Weekly Idol!”

The episode ending, _Lookism’s_ song, “The King” started playing as they started dancing to it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, this is long and REALLY late. It’s been more than a week since I’ve updated… For those curious, I’ll give a brief summary: I was researching; the computer I use is a family computer; I’m only used to writing 1,000 word chapters; I recently got my own computer; and my sleeping schedule. For the next variety show, should I write in parts (it’ll have a lot of parts, like this would be 8-9 chapters, but you’ll get a chapter every day) or continue doing this and I might update a little sooner (no promises, though). If you want to give me some advice on what I can do better in this, feel free to tell me!
> 
> Thank you for the happy birthdays and comments, Fangirltrash and thefaultinmyfart! Also, thank you, VANDARA! Good to know that someone likes the smaller amount of romance in here!
> 
> The next chapter will most likely be something easygoing. Since it’s been awhile, should I write a “date” chapter (you get to choose who the two characters are), Lookism dorm moment that possibly has a hidden camera, or Lookism reacts to fanfiction (you also get to choose).
> 
> What should the next variety show be? 1. Weekly Idol (but only Lookism) 2. A Song For You 3. Celebrity Romance 4. Hello Counselor (this will make this fanfic longer than what I planned since I would add some more chapters/plans (and characters) if I were to write this out) 5. Other


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They read fanfiction.

**12:10:06AM OCT 1 2017**

Surrounding a computer, the six boys intensely stared at the screen.

Having terrible internet connection, their patience started to thin as the air slowly filled with anticipation.

Seconds pass, they swallow the lump in their throat, eyes never leaving the screen as the room remained deadly silent.

The loading finally completed, the boys immediately read the links involving the word they wanted to see the most.

_Lookism_.

It's been quite a while since their debut, yet they haven't bothered to check their group on the internet until now. It didn't help that the Weekly Idol episode had finally aired.

Curiosity skyrocketing—especially when their manager suggested that they should search themselves online to get a feel for what others think of them—they managed to get a hold of a computer.

A split-second had passed, when all of a sudden, their excitement disappeared, replaced with disappointment.

Scrolling through the links, they had realized something.

They weren't as famous as they thought they were.

They had a Wikipedia fanbase, but it didn't have much on it. Other than that, the word  _Lookism_  had shown their Weekly Idol episode and reality show, yet that was all.

They were expecting a lot more than this, but it seems they were getting their slight moment of fame get to them.

Getting sullen, the room continued its silence.

Moments pass before Jang Hyeon, not being able to stand them behaving like this any further, sighed, "Of course we wouldn't be that famous. Who do you think we are, BTS?"

Hearing his somewhat uplifting and upsetting speech, they all let out a sigh, slowly letting the dissatisfaction out of them with something taking its spot, awareness.

Jin Sung was the first to speak, laid-back, "Che. This proves that we're still rookies."

Jae Yeol nods, unexpectedly agreeing with the pompadour male.

Everyone giving off their opinion on the matter, Hyung Seok couldn't help the slight lift in his lips.

The time spent with the five had been fun and interesting.

For a long time, he'd been a loner—an outcast at that. Yet, ever since he's met them, he's been experiencing what he's always wanted to experience.

Friendship.

He didn't expect them to get along that well as Jin Sung was quick to fight, Vasco didn't like pretty boys, while Jang Hyeon happened to be a so-called pretty boy. Their first days together proved this point. However, as time went by, and with them having the same goal, they managed to complement each other in odd ways. Not like he was complaining, he rather liked the odd moments they had together.

Everyone giving up on their search, they had decided on ending it there as they began getting ready for bed.

However, Jae Yeol wasn't quite ready to end it as he had spotted a word associated with their name.

Fanfiction.

He had never heard of such a word, but there was one thing he did know—it had their names in the description of the link to the website.

Glancing at the mouse cursor, he spots Bum Jae about to close the tab.

Wondering if he should tell him, he starts getting panicky. Glancing up, his eyes lock with Hyung Seok's.

Hyung Seok, understanding in an instant, without thinking, abruptly places his hand over Bum Jae's to stop him from closing the tab.

"Wait!"

A slight moment of awkwardness happened before they, excluding Jae Yeol—albeit, slightly jealous—stared at Hyung Seok in confusion.

Letting out an awkward laugh, he retracts his hand, "There's a link we missed."

Placing their gaze back on the screen, they found out that they did, indeed, miss something.

Jang Hyeon halted his steps from hearing Hyung Seok's words. Wondering what he was talking about, he walks back to his spot.

Tensing up at the words he read, he paled.

Images of his youthful days of searching some fanfics of an indistinguishable situation flashed through his mind, each image unclear.

On instinct, he quickly tries to avert their attention elsewhere, "W-we should get ready for bed."

They turned their head towards him, giving a questioning look.

Nervous and not wanting to ruin their somewhat innocent minds, the leader struggles to come up with an explanation that would let them know the reason.

"Um—"

"Let's read it."

Their attention turned on the one who had spoken.

Vasco.

They could clearly see his excitement as he wanted to see what the link could possibly have on it.

Hearing their exhilarated group member, the three started to get more interested, the contagious excitement rubbing off on them. Being excluded from the curious three, Bum Jae, from years of being his childhood friend, knew that whatever Vasco was curious on, it could never lead to anything good.

Unknowingly agreeing on wanting to read whatever was on the link, the three turned towards Jang Hyeon, waiting for permission.

Under pressure, as the leader, Jang Hyeon started worrying for them, sweating.

Staring at his group, he held his ground.

Or at least, he tried to.

About to deny once again, their puppy-dog eyes made it harder for him to deny them.

Stalling, he eventually lost the will to say no to their faces.

"...fine."

The leader's behavior just proved his bad feeling in his gut, yet Bum Jae clicks on the link, curiosity getting the best of him as he hoped that he wouldn't regret it.

Upon seeing more links, Jin Sung seemed to come to awareness on what these could possibly have in them, "These fanfictions..."

Lowering his head, he gained a shadow over his handsome features.

Seeing his body shake, they were about to ask if he was okay before they heard a chuckle come out of him.

Lifting his head, Jin Sung smirked, index and thumb under chin, his eyes closed, "...are writing about how cool I am."

Used to his narcissism, they continued to skim through the site, ignoring him—"Hey, don't ignore me!"

Going through, they noticed their names with an "x" separating them.

Feeling responsible as he was the one who noticed it first, Jae Yeol felt his heart get heavy. He didn't know why it did, but he supposed that he should start getting wary of the results up ahead.

Oblivious to such things, the not-so-bright ones didn't know what the x's meant while Bum Jae, Jae Yeol, and Jin Sung, quickly caught on what these were all about.

Bum Jae had spent quite a lot of time searching on the internet to block sites, making sure Vasco wouldn't have any access to such words that could taint him. Jae Yeol was able to put pieces together to fit a puzzle, plus the gut feeling proving he was correct, while Jin Sung is familiar with such terms as he likes to write his and Mi Jin's name in that exact way.

Observing their faces, Jang Hyeon was able to tell who knew what's up and who didn't.

Hyung Seok and Vasco were behind the times. They weren't all that bright either. Therefore, it wasn't surprising that the two didn't know what it meant. 

Still oblivious, the two were confused as they wondered what some of the terms the writers used.

Such as, NSFW, BL, Plot what Plot, etc.

Beginning to see some inappropriate words, Bum Jae starts scrolling back up, fortunate enough to have the innocent ones be slow readers, "Oh look at the time, we should probably practice some more."

Hyung Seok blinked, "Aren't we already done with practice?"

Bum Jae gave off an awkward smile as he started sweating, "Oh yeah! I meant, we should go to bed inste—"

Getting the mouse taken away from him, Vasco clicks on one of the stories.

Internally screaming, Bum Jae, Jae Yeol, and Jang Hyeon went in front of the screen—Jin Sung not wanting to get involved with the chaos, stayed near the walls, far away from the troublesome matter.

"—you shouldn't!" Jang Hyeon cut in.

Vasco raised his eyebrow, "Why?"

"Um, because, because..." Jang Hyeon struggled to think of an excuse before Bum Jae gladly helped him, "Ah! Because you need to study for the test tomorrow."

Head tilted down, his aura gave off an expression of being angry.

_Oh no, he's angry!_

It quickly showed to be nothing as Vasco asked, "We had a test tomorrow?"

Noticing that Vasco took the bait, Bum Jae continued, "Yes, yes! It's a  _very_ important test."

"Very important test?" Vasco started to slowly believe their words. During this time of confusion, Jae Yeol managed to press the back button, but unable to close the tab as he noticed Hyung Seok staring at him.

Not wanting to be suspicious, Jae Yeol left the tab be, hoping that Hyung Seok wouldn't suspect anything. In the end, Hyung Seok really didn't suspect anything as what he was looking at was not his hand, but his fringe. For some reason, he chose that time to wonder on why he always had his fringe covering his eyes.

"Yeah, if you don't pass, you'll, you'll—" Bum Jae quickly tried to think of an excuse when Jin Sung joined in, "Fail."

Turning their heads towards the boy, the three breathe a sigh of relief, while Vasco, being his gullible self, continued to get tricked.

"Fail?"

"That's right. And if you fail, you won't be able to continue being an idol anymore."

"...I won't be able to be an idol anymore?"

Vasco, looking conflicted for a split-second, became determined, "I don't want that!"

Taking this chance, Bum Jae smiles at him, "Then let's go study. Okay, Vasco?"

Vasco nods before Bum Jae lead him far away from the computer.

Feeling slightly left out, Hyung Seok didn't know what the fuss was all about. Seeing that they were still distracted with Vasco, Hyung Seok goes back on the computer and scrolls through the choices, looking for an interesting title or description.

Spotting his and Jae Yeol's name, Hyung Seok stops scrolling. Something tells him that he shouldn't read it, yet another side of him tells him to satisfy his curiosity.

Glancing behind himself, he sees them ensuring that Vasco gave up on trying to read whatever was on the computer. Since he wasn't being stopped, he figured that it wouldn't be a big deal if he read some of the words on the screen.

" **Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings**

At the Stroke of Midnight  
love_at_first_fanfic

** Chapter 1 **

J, after moving out of his parent's house, has moved onto a normal street to live his life as an independent young man. Upon moving out, he meets a beautiful, breathtaking male leave his house. Gawking at him with his jaw open, Hyungseok catches him staring at him.

They had awkward eye contact with each other for what seemed like an eternity before Hyungseok smiles and gives him a wave.

J, shocked, waves back.

Days passed with Hyungseok coming out and waving or either greeting the blond man; the blondie only able to wave or nod at him.

One time, the blondie would glance outside, only to see his neighbor there. Seeing him, they would both give each other a nod of the day before resuming life...

Or at least that could be said for Hyungseok.

J, gaining interest on the blacknet, would give occasional side glances to see what the boy was up to—it being on the border line of being considered stalking.

Since then, J would sometimes glance through his window in hopes of seeing his neighbor. Without knowing it, J ended up keeping an eye on the male, but only in the realms of the neighborhood and his house.

He would never stalk him outside.

That'd be too risky for J.

During his times stalking him, he would see Hyungseok and his roommate... Hyungseok. They both have the same name, but he doesn't question it as that didn't matter. What really matters is that the beautiful male, who he observes day by day, is still in the neighborhood. Besides, he's never seen them together unless one of them was drunk, passed out or just sleeping.

However, his wishes were soon going to be fulfilled as J, minding his own business, got an unexpected guest.

The beautiful, young man rang his doorbell at three o'clock in the morning.

Shocked at seeing the male there, he freezes in spot.

His thought process going all over the place, he managed to open the door with his shaky hands.

"Hello, neighbor~!"

Surprised, the male was unable to voice out a reply.

"I forgot the key to my house, so can I stay here for now?"

Stepping to the side, the blond doesn't question it as he lets him in. His thoughts only thinking about how lucky he was.

Walking inside, the blacknet, without warning, shoves J against a wall.

About to say something in confusion, he got stopped from Hyungseok placing his finger to his lips.

"Shh..."

Taking advantage of his frozen state, the blacknet unbuttoned the blond's shirt before—"

"Wahh! Hyungseok!" Jang Hyeon came into view, blocking the words from the teenager's sight.

Jang Hyeon couldn't believe that he left the other innocent soul by himself when he was the one left alone, making it easier for Hyung Seok to unknowingly read whatever was on the computer.

Silently cursing in his head, Jang Hyeon placed his hands on Hyung Seok's shoulders, serious:

"How far did you read?"

Hyung Seok, processing the slight glimpse he managed to read before Jang Hyeon blocked his view, felt his face heat up.

"...Hyungseok?"

The blush only getting darker as time went by, Hyung Seok doesn't manage to reply as his sight started to get darker.

_What's happening?_

About to faint, he manages to see his blurry teammates shout out his name, "Hyungseok!"

* * *

 

The five group members hurried towards Hyung Seok's side, worried.

"What happened?" Vasco asked as he bent down.

Hyung Seok in his arms, Jang Hyeon responds, "I don't know. He just fainted."

Sweating, Jae Yeol watches the sight before him, not knowing what to do.

Seeming to recall something, the blond quickly snapped his head towards the clock.

1:00 AM.

Relief flowing through him, Jae Yeol gets their attention by gesturing towards the time.

Confused for a second, they eventually understand the reason behind the faint.

It was time for them to go to bed.

With that in mind, they all let out a sigh.

They had been notified by Hyung Seok that he'll sleep right at 1 o'clock in the morning, but they didn't expect him to be so exact with his words.

Worry leaving their system, Jae Yeol volunteered to carry Hyung Seok to his sleeping spot. No one disagreeing—especially since Hyung Seok was heavier than he looked—Jae Yeol piggy-backed the unconscious male.

With everyone going to bed, Jae Yeol gently laid Hyung Seok down on his usual sleeping area before standing up and getting ready for bed.

Noticing that the screen was on, he decides to turn off the computer. Before doing so, he catches a few words on the screen. About to close the window, he does a double take, making sure his eyes weren't wrong.

Glancing around his surroundings, Jae Yeol secretly keeps the tab on for a little longer.

* * *

 

Waking up in his other body, Hyung Seok had to wonder on why he woke up before he realized his alarm clock ringing.

Realization kicking in, he remembers that he set up an alarm for this body to wake up. This unexpectedly worked as he didn't know that making an alarm for his original body would really wake him up—especially since he was a heavy sleeper. He's always just slapped his body to wake up in the other one. Thankfully, since it worked, it managed to replace such a painful method.

Staring at the wall for a few seconds, Hyung Seok didn't know what to do. He had quit his convenience job to spend that time exercising, but it was still too early to exercise.

Observing his surroundings, he looks for something to do. Bored, his eyes eventually stop on a familiar screen.

Contemplating for a few seconds, he ends up crawling towards the computer.

_Since I have spare time, it wouldn't hurt to continue reading..._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello! It's been a while. Sorry for not updating, I've been busy with school and I kind of lost inspiration to write... I'm slowly starting to continue writing, so please don't worry! I just took a break without telling anyone. I'll end up having an irregular schedule from now on, though... To make up for not updating in forever, I'll try to get the next chapter up tomorrow or the day after tomorrow!
> 
> Sorry to the people who thought I meant "Hidden Camera" instead of a camera that just records them doing something. For those of you who don't know, a hidden camera is usually when an idol gets pranked for someone's birthday, while some/all group members know what's up.
> 
> Who do you think is the maknae (youngest) in LKM? Also, what's the age order for LKM? It's been bothering me that they're all the same age, yet I have no idea who has their birthday first or last. Knowing this info will really help!
> 
> P.S. Hello to anyone who reads Lookism on Webtoon!
> 
> Thank you to thefaultinmyfart, Fangirltrash (thanks for the late happy birthday blessing!), VANDARA (I have actually thought of letting them have a V Live. I was going to use the V App from Lookism (same thing). No problem!), and RosyLilac (thank you for your suggestions! I didn't mind your rambling at all! I'll make sure they're in the same country, haha.) for giving me suggestions! Also, once again, sorry for making you misunderstand, randompeeps!


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Date? What date? I'm definitely not on a date that may or may not be banned in the agency. -Jin Sung
> 
> Warning: Cursing from Jin Sung.

In the crack of dawn, a pompadour-haired male woke up to his alarm along with the groans of his roommates.

Pissed and cranky at the lack of sleep, he snatches his phone from the floor. About to end the alarm and continue sleeping, he reads the description of his alarm.

**Get ready for date.**

Abruptly sitting up, he realizes what he had to do.

Recalling the sounds of his roommates, he felt dread at the thought of them being awake. Quickly taking in the sight of his passed-out group, he sighs in relief.

Taking the blanket off, he tiptoes to the bathroom, making sure he didn't accidentally wake them up with his footsteps. During his slow movement to the bathroom, he did a quick head count:

Vasco was sleeping next to Bum Jae near the couch.

_Vasco and Jace, check._

A pink-haired male was next to the exit of the dorm.

Already feeling dread, he thought about ways on how he would pass the male to get to the door:

_Being the leader as always... Eli, check._

Getting closer to the bathroom, he found Jae Yeol and a blanket with something under it next to him.

Assuming the bundle under the blanket was Hyung Seok, he checked them off as well.

His hand on the handle of the bathroom door, he turned the door, thinking,  _Finally!_

What he didn't realize was the amount of pressure he had to put on the handle.

Crying tears of joy, the door opened.

However, on the other end was Hyung Seok.

They both stared at each other, dumbfounded.

Confused, Jin Sung tried to remember if he counted him off his checklist.

Remembering the blanket, he cursed inside his head.

_Shit. He wasn't under that blanket? No wonder the door was easier to open than usual._

The door handle had both boys opening it at the same time, making it feel like there was less pressure necessary to open it than usual.

Wiping the remaining water on his face, Hyung Seok blinked.

"Jinsung?"

Trying to keep calm, Jin Sung gulped before replying a little intimidatingly, "What?"

Already used to such behavior, Hyung Seok asked the question stuck in his head, "Are you going somewhere?"

"Why do you want to know?" Jin Sung started sweating, hoping he wasn't caught already.

Seeing him put up his guard, Hyung Seok waved his hands in dismissal, "Oh, I didn't mean to be rude. It's just that you don't usually use the bathroom unless you're getting ready to leave."

Jin Sung gaped a little, surprised at his observation skills. He never sought Hyung Seok as the type to observe his surroundings or at least put it to good use.

"Tsk. It's none of your business."

Hyung Seok was slightly taken-aback. He had thought that he and Jin Sung had gotten closer over the past few months, but seeing how he won't even tell him where he's going, made him doubt their closeness.

Jin Sung didn't understand why Hyung Seok would want to know such a thing. He's never been nosy before, so this was a bit odd and new for him. He never thought Hyung Seok would care enough to ask.

"...I guess you're right." Hyung Seok awkwardly laughed it off. Walking out of the way, he apologized, "Sorry for asking."

Surprised, Jin Sung didn't know if he saw right, but it seemed like Hyung Seok was affected with the way he said that sentence. Usually, the boy would just brush it off as his natural way of talking—now, it felt like Hyung Seok got the wrong idea from his reply.

Feeling the sudden urge to stop Hyung Seok, Jin Sung's hand twitched. However, he stopped himself.

_...Why do I care if Hyungseok misunderstood? It's not like we were close to begin with. We're just from the same idol group; nothing more, nothing less._

Reassuring himself that what he did wasn't something he should care about, he went inside the bathroom.

* * *

 

Successfully getting passed the final boss—Jang Hyeon—he walks out of the dorm.

Happy, he does a quick pose before he felt something in his heart.

Regret.

He had no idea why he was feeling this way—actually, scratch that. He could list a few things.

Like how he didn't tell his group he was going on a date even though dating was banned for rookies; not making up with Hyung Seok, which was quickly crossed out as something he shouldn't regret.

With these in his mind, he still didn't know why he was feeling such things, but he did know one thing.

He was making Mi Jin wait.

Dashing to their meeting spot, he tries to clear his mind, the feeling continuing to bother him on the way there.

* * *

 

Everyone now awake, Jang Hyeon did a quick roll call check as his intuition told him that someone was missing.

Brushing his teeth, he walked around the dorm; seeing almost everyone, he knew who was missing.

Finished with brushing his teeth, he asked the group, "Where's Jinsung?"

They looked at each other, not knowing the answer—well, maybe except for Hyung Seok.

Raising his hand, he spoke, "Um."

Jang Hyeon sweatdropped after he had noticed the boy's hand.

_Why is he raising his hand?_

Nonetheless, he chose to go along with him, "Yes, Hyungseok?"

"He might of went to meet someone."

"Someone?"

Bum Jae decided to join the conversation, "If it's someone, it has to be her."

"Her?" The others questioned as they turned their attention on him.

"Ah..."

They went back to Hyung Seok.

Hyung Seok bit his lip, knowing why Jin Sung didn't tell him where he was going.

He was going on a  _date_.

He had recalled the slight lecture they got from Jang Hyeon on why they shouldn't date until the CEO thought it was okay. The lecture took two hours, so it was kind of hard to forget.

Knowing that Jang Hyeon would get pissed, he struggled to get the words out of his mouth.

The leader noticed this before he smiled...

Intimidatingly.

"Hyung Seok~ Do you know  _why_  he left?"

The poor boy was now being interrogated.

Stepping back a little, he gulped, "Y-yes? K-kind of?"

Jang Hyeon walked closer to him; Hyung Seok started to walk away from him.

The walking started at a slow pace before it increased to the point that the rest watching was wondering how Hyung Seok could walk backwards so fast.

Reaching the wall, Jang Hyeon placed a hand on the wall next to Hyung Seok's head.

Hyung Seok was sweating now, Jae Yeol was jealous, and Jang Hyeon was having a little too much fun.

Looking right into Hyung Seok's eyes, Jang Hyeon asked:

"I'll ask again; where's Jin Sung?"

* * *

 

Hyung Seok told him what he had thought Jin Sung was doing.

Jang Hyeon deemed it to be true as he pulled out a device.

The members crowded around him, they wondered what it was.

"What's that, leader?" Vasco asked, curious as the rest of the group.

"A tracking device." Jang Hyeon said as if it was normal.

The others were surprised before they thought the same thing.

Being the brave soul, Bum Jae questioned, "Do you have one on all of us?"

Jang Hyeon looking up, started blinking, "How did you know?"

They shivered, they felt their privacy being threatened, but then again, they're idols, so they don't have much privacy to begin with.

Bum Jae quietly felt relief; just in case Vasco didn't have his phone, he now has someone he can call to find him.

Hearing his tracking device find their target, Jang Hyeon glanced at his device before smirking:

"Found him."

* * *

 

Jin Sung sneezed before he rubbed his nose.

_Damn allergies._

Jin Sung, currently in Caffee & Tee, was waiting for Mi Jin.

Wearing the most casual clothes he had, he took in the fact that someone might recognize him, so he kept a cap and mask on.

While waiting, regret started to overwhelm him.

_Maybe I should have told them after all... Ugh. Shit. These feelings are starting to get to me._

Stuck in his thoughts, he felt a stare on him—a rather strong one at that, as if there were multiple of them.

Snapping his head towards the stare, he glared in the direction.

Poor innocent souls were now under his glare before Jin Sung realized it wasn't coming from them.

Sighing, he thought,  _These feelings are really starting to get to me._

Jin Sung should've believed his instincts more as he was correct. Someone was watching him—well, more like five people were stalking him.

Jang Hyeon breathed a sigh in relief, "He didn't notice us."

The five were currently waiting in the coffee shop across of Caffee & Tee.

They were wearing casual clothes while everyone varied with either a mask or hat.

They couldn't wear both or else they would attract too much attention.

Sadly, they were already attracting too much attention as some girls felt that the group were famous people from the get-up they were wearing.

Whispering, they fangirled at the possibility of being in the same coffee shop as famous people or better, an idol group.

"Hey, hey, don't they kind of look like  _Lookism_?"

"Eh? I thought they look like famous people, but now that I take a closer look, they do look like them!"

"How did you know?"

"My bias is there!"

"Which one?"

"The blond one! He has bangs over his eyes, of course I'd recognize him!"

Looking over at him, they saw that the blond was currently wearing a mask, covering his beautiful features.

"Now that you say that, I can see that he's definitely J!"

"Right?! Hmph, I'm quite proud of my idol skills, being able to know who's who by looking at their unique features!"

"What about the other group members?"

"Hmm..."

While contemplating on who was who, a third person joined in.

"I know! I know! The one with the hat with some pink poking out of it, is my precious Eli!"

As their conversation continued, more and more people joined in, curious on what they were talking about. As the fandom joined together, they started quietly chanting, "We are Lookers, and we are proud!"

They did that to gather the courage to approach them.

They were too shy, so no one dared do it, until someone stood up.

"I'll go!"

The girls admired her courage as they clapped, "Woahh!!"

About to talk to the group, the girl noticed that they were already leaving the shop.

The fandom could only look on with sadness.

What they didn't know was that the five could hear their entire conversation. The group of girls gathering in a spot near them would attract their attention, so that was a given. They weren't exactly the quietest bunch either, so as they were choosing someone to go talk to them, they chose that moment to leave the shop.

They felt a bit bad when they saw their fans' saddened faces, but they couldn't do much about it.

Being the guy that he is, Jang Hyeon lifted his hat up enough for the girls to finally see his face. They were about to cheer in being right before Jang Hyeon winked and placed a finger up to his lips while quietly shushing them.

Whether he was their bias or not, they all blushed with some having nosebleeds.

When they finally regained themselves, they noticed that they were gone already.

* * *

 

"Eli, was that wink really necessary?" Bum Jae sighed, exasperated by their leader's actions.

"Eh~ of course it was! They're our fans yet we left them while they were gathering up their courage to talk to us. The least I could've done was show that they were correct." Bum Jae showed him a deadpanned face. To redeem himself, the pink-haired coughed, "Besides, we were leaving anyway, so they wouldn't be able to stalk us here."

They were currently in the shop diagonally across of the coffee shop Jin Sung was currently at.

The fact that the boy hadn't left yet left wonders along with the fact that there were multiple shops that were able to look through the window of the shop.

Seeing that Jin Sung finally left with Mi Jin, they stopped their small argument to follow the rebellious boy.

Following them, the five failed to notice another group with cameras following him.

* * *

 

"Hey, Mi Jin, I'll go get you a prize from that." Jin Sung pointed at a claw machine, most of the prizes being stuffed toys.

"Oh, really? Thank you, Jin Sung!"

Jin Sung played the machine multiple times, yet he managed to get nothing every time.

"Um, Jin Sung, you don't have to get me a prize." Mi Jin sweatdropped as a nervous smile appeared on her face.

The "if you can't get one" was unsaid, but it was clear as day to Jin Sung.

"No! I'll get you one!" Jin Sung, being the stubborn one as always, proclaimed.

Seeing how determined he was, she sighed.

Looks like they're going to be here for a while.

An hour passed before Jin Sung finally got a prize.

Crying tears of accomplishment with a smirk, he held the prize up in the air.

Giving the prize to her, he smugly gave a statement, "Here's your prize, Mi Jin."

Mi Jin couldn't help the smile from forming on her lips, "Thank you, Jin Sung."

Watching this, the five wondered how much of his pocket money Jin Sung used up.

Jang Hyeon and Bum Jae could only shake their head, Jang Hyeon muttering, "This boy..."

Vasco didn't really know what the problem was, but nonetheless, joined in with the disappointment as that was the flow of things.

Hyung Seok was staring at Jin Sung intensely, whispering under his breath, "With that amount of money, I could of..."

While the disappointment spread around the group, Jae Yeol couldn't see why they were acting this way. In his eyes, Jin Sung didn't use a lot of money. However, he could agree that Jin Sung used too much money on one machine, so he slowly joined the group of disappointed members: a rich uncle disappointed with the amount he used on one machine, two parents shaking their head, a confused child, and another child calculating the money in his head, thinking of all the things he could have bought or repaired.

While they were doing that, Jin Sung felt the contagious disappointed as he felt ashamed and embarrassed out of nowhere.

Confused, he shook his head,  _Why am I feeling like this?_

* * *

 

The five watched on as they slowly got bored.

Jang Hyeon felt their disappointment before he suggested, "Let's sabotage their date."

The four were shocked and confused at his statement.

Jang Hyeon only tilted his head, "What? Did I say something weird?"

Seeing their expressions, he sighed, "He is currently disobeying the agency's rules. We are, of course, not going to tell on him since we'll get affected too. But, that doesn't mean that we can't punish him. He didn't even tell us that he was going on a date, so it's only right if we ruined it indirectly."

They weren't convinced, so he continued, "We'll only beat him in the games he plays. We're not going to make him lose his chance with Miss Kim Mi Jin."

Hearing that, they slowly warmed up to that idea.

"Whoever's in, say I."

"I."

* * *

 

Now began their slight revenge on the poor pompadour wearing male.

As Jin Sung went on different games, they always got a higher score right after he finished it, making sure Jin Sung could only hear, "New high-score!"

By the time Jin Sung turned his head, the person who beat him would be gone. At that moment, Jin Sung would always look at the machine he lost on and see his high-score beaten.

As always, he would try to beat it, but Mi Jin would refrain him from doing so.

Jang Hyeon felt a bit childish today as he smirked at Jin Sung's misfortune.

"Now, who's going next?"

With that said, they observed what Jin Sung was about to do, a punching bag.

Seeing this, they all knew who should go up next; Hyung Seok.

He did win during the Weekly Idol game, so they figured he would be the best bet.

As Hyung Seok's punch resounded throughout the arcade, Jin Sung snapped his head to the direction, this time, prepared.

Not being able to run, Hyung Seok gets caught by Jin Sung.

"Ah hah! I got you now, bastard..."

Seeing who it was, Jin Sung let go of him, "Hyungseok...? What are you doing here?"

Putting pieces together, he whispered. "...you didn't."

Hyung Seok could only smile sheepishly, "I did?"

Catching on to what happened, Jin Sung quickly searched for the rest.

Finding them, he snarled, "You guys were the ones stalking me?"

He was angry for a split-second before he remembered what he was doing.

He was on a date.

Just like that, he backed down.

Finding this as a chance, Jang Hyeon cornered him, "Jinsung~ what do you think you're doing? Don't you remember the lecture I gave you? You know, the one about how dating is bad and all?"

Jin Sung gulped as he felt pressured in the corner, "I could explain..."

Mi Jin watched this before she knew what was going on.

Angry, she smiled with an annoyed tick mark on her forehead, "Jin Sung..."

Hearing her, he felt even more scared, "...Mi Jin. I—"

Huffing out, she shook her head, "I can't believe you hung out with me without their permission."

Jin Sung looked like a kicked puppy, "But Mi Jin..."

She was about to let Jin Sung go from the expression he was making before she got a hold of herself.

"No buts, Jin Sung."

Turning her head away from him, arms crossed, she held her ground.

Hearing Jin Sung apologize repeatedly, she sighed before turning her gaze on the boy. Being unable to just end the date like that, she made up her mind.

"...Jin Sung, let's continue this date when you can actually date, okay?"

Hearing her words, Jin Sung cheered, "Of course, Mi Jin!"

Like that, Jin Sung's and Mi Jin's date ended.

Now, in the dorm, Jin Sung sat on his knees in front of Jang Hyeon.

"Jinsung, you do know that I'm not going to let you off that easily, right?" Further using his intimidation, he asked, "Do you know what you did wrong?"

Jin Sung flinched, "...yes, sir."

"Oh~ and what was it?"

"...I went on a date." Jin Sung further felt embarrassed that he was acting so weak, but at the current moment, it couldn't be helped. Jang Hyeon could be scary at times.

"And why was that so bad?"

Wondering why Jang Hyeon was asking further, he answered, "Because it's banned?"

The leader nodded, "Anything else?"

"It could have ruined our reputation?"

"Yes, and?"

Now he was just confused.

What else could going on a date make him get in trouble for?

Taking in Jin Sung's expression, Jang Hyeon knew he didn't know the other reason.

Seeing Jin Sung's guilty and confused expression, the leader patted him on the head.

Crouching down to meet eye to eye, he smiled, "You didn't tell us you were going on a date."

Jin Sung blinked.

He had forgotten about that.

"Oh, is that all?" Knowing what else was left, he started to relax. He was worried that he did something else that got him in trouble.

Jang Hyeon took his hand away before he frowned, "It's rather important, you know? As leader, I was quite worried."

The pompadour-haired male wasn't expecting that.

"Worried? Why would you?"

Jang Hyeon got a little pissed at that, "Why would I? More like, why wouldn't I?"

Jin Sung widened his eyes.

Sighing, the leader frowned, "We're friends, right?"

"Friends?"

Jang Hyeon got annoyed, so he slapped the back of Jin Sung's head.

"Yeah, friends. Why, are you saying that we're only in the same group?"

Recalling that he thought that way of Hyung Seok, he felt apologetic to the blacknet. While thinking so, he felt slight déjà vu as something similar happened in the past.

_Ahhh, I'm in the same situation as Hyun Do... Well, not as bad of a situation, but it's similar._

Seeing him zone out, Jang Hyeon waved a hand in front of his face, "Hello? Jinsung?"

Zoning back in, Jin Sung blinked, "Ah. Sorry."

Jang Hyeon wasn't expecting that response as he voiced out, "What?"

The apology being accidental, he decided to use that chance to actually apologize, "I'm sorry... I should have told you guys that I was going..."

The other four were just as surprised before chaos ensued.

"Woah! Jin Sung apologized!"

Annoyed and slightly embarrassed, he looked elsewhere.

Surprised even further, they voiced out their amazement, "He didn't take back his apology..."

Jin Sung blushed before shouting, "Fine, if you're going to be like that, I'm taking back my apology!"

Amused by his reactions, they slowly ganged up on him, Jang Hyeon taking the lead.

Putting him in a headlock, he ruffled his hair, "See, it wasn't that hard, now was it, Jinsung?"

Laughing and enjoying their time, they were interrupted by Jang Hyeon's phone.

Curious, Jang Hyeon wondered who would be texting him at such a time.

Blinking, Jang Hyeon was surprised at the message he had gotten from Soo Jeong.

Surrounding Jang Hyeon, they read the message.

"LKM is going to Kim Won Joon's concert tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating like I said I would! School made me quite busy! Like I said, the updates are now going to be irregular (sorry), but please don't give up on this fanfic! It's still going to update!
> 
> For TAY (thank you!), randompeeps (sorry for not updating even though you thought I was back... I definitely agree with RosyLilac's idea, I'll most likely use it! Actually, I kind of already used it in this chapter), Noodle (Hyung Seok should run before he gets tainted by our fanfictions...), NorioJinx (I agree with RosyLilac's idea too! Thank you! I'm glad I was able to get your inner fujoshi out, I feel somewhat accomplished!), SmoothSmoothie (I'm glad I could help you with your thirst for Lookism!), buttfulmavinness (thank you for your reviews! While writing this chapter, I kept on seeing your reviews pop up. That gave me quite a lot of joy!), thank you for reviewing!
> 
> Should I have arcs like the manhwa? Like, this is the normal arc, I could add some arcs (sneak peek: Jae Won High is famously known for churning out many K-POP artist trainees, models and popular idols (Chapter 4)). However, if I do this, this fanfic will be 40+ chapters (if my Math is right). Please give me your opinion!
> 
> For the next variety show, it got cut down to: Celebrity Bromance (pairs are Jaeseok or Rapmon and Jang Hyeon) and Hello Counselor (Jinsung, Jace, Vasco, and Hyungseok appear in it). Both shows will appear, so this is to see which one appears first.


	31. Kim Won Joon [1]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim Won Joon concert and meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sunbae: an honorific you use when you talk to a higherup/senior in your job/school.

Arriving at their seats, the boys were awaiting Kim Won Joon's appearance.

As they fidgeted with their feet, they observed the scenery before them. The number of girls there was astounding. They either had a fansign or glowstick in hand—all waiting for their precious idol to show up.

Since the boys, excluding Jang Hyeon, haven't been to an idol concert before, they were awestruck by the sight as they gaped; Hyung Seok was the most effected as he has never dreamed of going to such an expensive concert, especially one that was free-of-charge as the CEO let them in with them not having to spend a single penny.

"10."

The sound of the loud number got the five by surprise as they didn't know what was happening.

"9."

The leader found the startled boys amusing. Yet, he didn't bother to explain as they eventually came to an understanding.

The fans were counting down from when the concert would start. It had been a tradition for the fans to do so since Kim Won Joon told them to do it. Apparently, "it made him seem like he appeared with the angelic voices of his fans as if it was magic." His words, not mine.

Once it hit zero, before they knew it, the lights went crazy as a person ran on stage.

"Hello, everyone! Did I keep you waiting?"

When it started, what took them by surprise, and possibly some hearing-loss, were the fans' screams.

Distracted for a few seconds, they managed to snap out of it as their eyes focused on the stage. Not knowing where he was for a second, once they found him, Kim Won Joon immediately charmed them. His black hair and suit somehow made him seem like the only one in the concert; it was as if his presence conquered over the others. Unable to take their eyes off him, they were left with the one option to immerse themselves in the scene before them.

His dance moves were swift and sharp as his backup dancers complemented his dancing. They were already entranced by the dancing, but the good part was only a few seconds away from happening.

After the intro finished, Kim Won Joon smirked—showing some fanservice—before he used his vocal chords.

The rich, deep voice made their eyes widen. Not a second later, the fans started chanting the last word of the sung phrase of the lyrics.

Jang Hyeon, waiting for this, smirked as he started to sweat.

_It's begun._

Hyung Seok could only observe as if he was taking in the performance; his mind blank.

Vasco seemed more serious than usual, Bum Jae showing an identical expression.

Jae Yeol gaped, no words coming out of his mouth.

Jin Sung showed similar expressions, but he seemed to feel déjà vu, confused.

Breath taken, the five never knew how much of an effect it'd be to see a veteran idol sing and dance live before them; however, his quite easy dance moves made some curious, but they left it be since he's a soloist.

The fanchants only further made the concert exciting and thrilling as their feelings were contagious; their chants somehow wasn't a bother and was starting to slowly be considered a part of the performance. The fact that they were close to the stage didn't help as the idol emitted charisma that they knew they didn't quite have yet.

If they had come to the concert with the purpose to enjoy themselves, they would be having the time of their lives. However, since they're idols and from the same company, they felt a heavy feeling well up inside them as they stared at the idol.

_...so this is a professional._

* * *

 

Backstage, they mentally prepared themselves as they were seconds away from meeting Kim Won Joon.

Since they were alone backstage—their manager would meet up with them later—they tried to find his dressing room.

After minutes of searching, they couldn't find it.

Exasperated, Jin Sung was starting to lose his patience. However, before he could complain—which would result in someone to stop him from causing a scene—a door across from them opened.

The sound instinctively made the boys turn towards it.

The door slowly opened; they gulped as they anticipated the appearance of someone they possibly knew.

Completely open, surprise overwhelmed the six members.

"Next is that new variety show, right?"

It was Kim Won Joon, the very person they were looking for.

Seeing him right in front of them made them feel somewhat intimidated. He had a strong aura as his presence practically sparkled, almost blinding them. They didn't realize they were holding their breath until they noticed another head pop up.

Right after the idol walked out of his room, another person appeared, talking with the idol.

"Yes, but don't forget to keep your dancing to a minimum. We don't want another incident to happen, Jun."

"Okay~ I'll be carefu—"

Feeling their stares, the idol glanced in their direction. As soon as he saw them, his aura changed from a cool and composed aura to one that was warm and welcoming.

"Oh, hello there."

Stepping forward, the leader bowed, "Sunbae, I'm Eli from  _Lookism_. Nice to meet you."

Following his lead, the rest bowed before they introduced themselves.

He continued to smile before he, too, introduced himself:

"I'm Jun. Nice to meet you too."

Once they heard him say "Jun" they glanced at the name plate next to the door.

True to his words, the room's plate said, "Jun," not "Kim Won Joon."

Jang Hyeon quietly called himself stupid as he didn't consider the fact that the name plate might be his alias instead of his real name. Nonetheless, he kept a smile on as he was still in the presence of a higher-up.

While the leader was cursing at himself, a pompadour male felt like Jun sounded familiar, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

Jun glanced at his waiting manager before he briefly told him to go on without him.

"But Jun, your schedule—"

"It can wait a little. I'll talk to my cute juniors first," seeing the dissatisfied manager, he added, "Don't worry, I'll catch up with you later."

Used to this behavior, the manager sighed before accepting defeat, "I'll give you five minutes."

Seeing him going along with his selfish wish, Jun smiled in gratitude before giving a playful response, "Thank you, Taesung~"

"Yeah, yeah. You have four minutes now."

"Eh? It already started?"

Watching the playful interaction between the two made LKM silently wait as they slightly found entertainment from it.

Finishing his conversation, he turned his heel to face the six boys.

Smiling, Jun started talking, "So you fellas are my precious, long awaited juniors?"

Bum Jae couldn't help but notice his way of wording, making him ask, "Don't you already have juniors?"

Jun's smile widened, "I do, but they aren't quite the juniors I want." Grinning, he took a step closer to them, "You guys have something they don't."

Leaning in, they curiously wondered what he meant by that.

Noticing them getting closer, eager to know, Jun couldn't help staring at them.

Hyung Seok and Vasco had a child-like curiosity to their stare.

Bum Jae and Jin Sung pretended to not care as they kept their ear in the direction of the veteran.

Jae Yeol seemed to be curious as well, but not as obvious as his fringe and gaped mouth weren't exactly clear enough to let him know what he's feeling. He did glance at Hyung Seok a few times, but that didn't help tell if he was curious or not.

Jang Hyeon seemed to have the most convincing poker face on as he kept his smile on. Yet, when they leaned closer, his leg slowly moving along with the others was proof enough that he was interested.

At the sight, Jun held in a chuckle.

_How cute._

"They aren't in a group."

Utterly confused, it took them a second before Jang Hyeon let out an, "Oh!"

The others were left out as they had little knowledge on the idols in their agency.

Finding them hopeless, Jang Hyeon explained, "Jun-sunbae is from Back Bing—the only other K-pop group in DY Entertainment."

Satisfied with his answer, the older smiled. He patted Jang Hyeon's shoulder, "Jang Hyeon, right? I've heard about you."

The pink-haired male blinked, "You know me?"

"Yup. The CEO is quite the stubborn one. Even when I asked him to consider on making another group, he would give me the cold shoulder." Staring at him, he smiled, "You were the one who convinced him, correct?"

"Ah. Yes. I did."

Relaxing on one leg, he took his hand off his shoulder, "You're quite impressive. Even after I tried to get the CEO to make one continuously for twelve years, he wouldn't budge.

"Thanks to you, I finally get to have juniors. Seriously, you have no idea how many times the other agency's veterans would brag about their juniors." Sighing to add to the effect, he shook his head.

Taking in their appearance, he sighed again, "Unfortunately, there's a big problem with you guys..."

They could only watch on with fear and anticipation as they weren't expecting him to have a problem with them.

"...you're not a girl group."

The ridiculous statement almost made them lose balance.

_Seriously...?_

They thought as they couldn't help but marvel at their senior's sudden joke.

Yet, somehow, someone could understand his pain.

Jun was about to say that he was joking—even though they already knew that—but stopped when he heard a drip sound.

Glancing at the sound, he saw something liquid-y on the ground.

_Is that...water?_

Looking at the source of it, he saw Vasco crying from one eye.

_Eh?_

Vasco quickly took his hand in his hands.

_Ehhhh?_

"...I'm sorry for us not being a girl group."

Lost, Jun looked at the others for help, "What's wrong with him?"

Bum Jae gave a sad laugh, "He feels empathetic?" As if it would help, he added, "Don't mind him, he's always like that."

While saying that, Bum Jae shouted internally,  _Vasco! Now's not the time to be crying!_

For the lack of explanation, the older went with what he thought he should do, meaning, he took his hand out of the boy's grasp; he ignored Vasco in favor of not getting further confused. Finding something to distract himself from the silent, crying boy, he glanced at Hyung Seok.

"Oh, I'm guessing that you're also the visual of your group?"

Hearing the guy's voice more and more, Jin Sung finally knew what he was feeling, a lightbulb lit up above him.

The older about to continue the conversation, Jin Sung barged in while grabbing the male's shoulder, interrupting him.

"Hey."

The black-haired veteran idol arched an eyebrow before his smile returned, "Oh. I almost didn't recognize you. Long time no see, Jin Sung."

Hearing his words only further proved his guess.

About to say something, he opened his mouth. Knowing that what he was going to say might be rude to a higherup, he made sure to say it as politely as he could. By being polite, obviously he'd call him with an honorific.

"Jun-sunbae..."

Arching his eyebrow at the different and unfamiliar honorific coming out of Jin Sung's mouth, he became confused again, "Yeah?"

Jin Sung's eyes stared into the veteran's, still trying to be polite with his words:

"Do you happen to be a scouter?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I put a cliffhanger. Whoops? Hopefully I'll update soon. Hopefully. 
> 
> You know how when there are arcs in Lookism, the main story gets paused? Yeah, that's why I was wondering if I should have arcs or not since the story might feel a bit dragged on. Seeing how most of the people who gave me their opinion said yes, I'll be doing arcs for now. If you feel like the arcs are too long, feel free to tell me!
> 
> Kim Won Joon isn't an actual character in Lookism, but he is. He only shows up on a poster, so... he's kind of an OC but not. His personality and whatever that happens with him is purely made by me (just in case people get confused). Also, sorry for the big picture. I felt like I needed to show who he was, but the picture is just too big ^^;
> 
> Again, thank you for the reviews, ChickenStrp (you reread my fanfic, aw gosh, thank you. It's kind of a mess compared to what I hoped it'd be,,,), buttfulmavinness (thank you TT-TT for understanding. Thanks for giving me your opinion too), randompeeps (aw, thank you for your opinion. Don't worry, I just put in the date since I needed some time to update... which didn't exactly help in a way I was expecting since I took a lot of time off anyway...), Toolazy2openrealaccount (haha. Glad people can understand my jokes about Jae Yeol's hair. Thanks. Love you too? <\--don't mind me, I'm weird), Leboi (thank you! For the fanfiction... let's say something happened and increased their affection for each other? Haha), Frostlesskiss (thank you! I loved it when your comments appeared every time my phone notified me of them!), doodleyboo (I know I already replied, but just in case, I'll say thank you!), Lucky_charms (thank you for your suggestions! You'll find out if I put them in or not... don't want to spoil anything, sorry), Fangirltrash (Aw, I'm so sorry I made you feel that way TT~TT hopefully I'll update sooner to make it up to you!), and KitsuneFujoshi (lovely name, by the way)!


	32. Kim Won Joon [2]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim Won Joon stuff. Yeah...

"Aren't you that scouter?"

Jun blinked, "What? Jin Sung, are you okay?" Placing a hand to Jin Sung's forehead, frowning, he took his hand away, "You seem okay to me."

Seeing his expression, he further got confused, "You don't remember me?"

Jin Sung felt annoyed, but he held his annoyance in since he was talking to a senior, "Aren't you the one who forgot me? You were the one who asked me if I wanted to be an idol or not."

The older tilted his head, trying to recall if that ever happened.

After contemplating for a few seconds, he puts his fist on his hand, "Oh! Ohhh! I remember now! You were the one who told me how much money you'll be paid if you debuted!" Suddenly getting excited he took the boy's hand into his, " _Wow_ , that was you? _Dude_ , that's amazing! I can't believe I didn't recognize you sooner!"

Messing with Jin Sung's hair, he grinned, "Now I can say that I was the reason you became an idol. Just wait til Min Min finds out about this!"

_Min Min...?_

The nickname felt oddly familiar.

_Huh? What the...? This feeling._

As if that was the key to a chest locked deep inside, Jin Sung felt a feeling, a feeling he had forgotten about. He oddly felt admiration at the sudden not-new nickname. Hearing the name somehow made his body remember who the man was; sadly, the person himself still didn't know who Jun was.

He glanced up at Jun.

The veteran was still grinning from ear to ear, talking as if he had all the time in the world as he kept his hold on his hand.

_Who is this guy?_

Jin Sung couldn't take it anymore; he stopped Jun's blabbering with his comment:

"Who are you?"

The black-haired male halted his speech. His eyes narrowed with concern, "You really don't remember me? You weren't that young when I met you," Taking his hands off his, he tried to think of the reason the pompadour male didn't recognize him.

Once he came up with a reason, a lightbulb appeared, " _Oh_! Jin Sung!"

Jin Sung felt like his personal space was being invaded as the male grabbed his shoulders, suddenly turning serious.

His gaze hardened as he looked as if he had come up with something that would solve the problem of Jin Sung not knowing him:

"I went through puberty." Jin Sung couldn't believe his ears:

_Is this guy being serious?_

"When you saw me, I was still in my pre-debut phase."

As if that made a difference, Jun proudly let out a satisfied harrumph, "Yup, that's definitely the reaso—"

Interrupted by his phone, he quickly stood up straight, his satisfied expression morphed into one of fear once he realized who it was.

**Evil Manager \ >ㅁ<;/**

Feeling scared, he checked the time.

_It's been more than five minutes..._

Fear overtaking him, he glanced at the boys in front of him.

Putting on his best smile, he goes, "I need to go! It's been more than five minutes!"

Jin Sung had other plans, but he knew he couldn't just stop the busy idol, so he shouted with some hesitation; his hand sticking out, "Wait!"

Jun looks back, still walking but at a slower pace, "I'm sorry! I'm in a hurry! If you want to continue this conversation, get Min Min to arrange a meeting!!"

Seeing his confused face, Jun adds before walking faster, "...or meet me at the agency at one o'clock in the morning!"

Hyung Seok felt something odd from the way Jun walked, but he didn't know why. The man seemed to be walking fine. _Seemed to be fine_ , at least.

Hyung Seok had no clue why, but he could see his slight limps when walking. They were barely noticeable to the human eye, yet he managed to see them.

Glancing at the others to see if they noticed too, he found that no one was particularly paying attention to his walking as they were distracted from the presence of their manager.

Jun now gone, Jin Sung had his hand held out, not knowing what to do.

_One in the morning...?_

"Is that guy really that busy?"

Soo Jeong heard this and decided to give him some intel on the idol, "He's currently an emcee in a variety show, shooting a drama, getting ready for his comeback song, and preparing for a party for his members coming back from the army. Of course, he's busy. I'm surprised that he even has time to go to the agency when he can just go home and rest."

Jin Sung sometimes wondered where the manager got her information. From what he could remember, Soo Jeong was their manager, not the agency's.

Soo Jeong understood from his expression, "I know the bare minimum of all the idols from our agency. I wouldn't be a good manager if I didn't."

The five almost gawked at her ridiculous statement.

_That's the bare minimum?_

As they were thinking that, Jang Hyeon sweatdropped:

_Even I don't know that much..._

* * *

 

Once Jun arrived, he could see his manager leaning against the wall, checking the time.

Somehow feeling his presence, Taesung glanced in his direction before he began his way to their ride.

Knowing Taesung wouldn't tolerate any further tardiness, he sprinted to the car.

Out of breath with his hands on his knees, Jun went inside the vehicle.

Right next to him, Taesung voiced out, "So those were your favorite juniors you've been talking about?"

Perking up at the mention of them, Jun grinned, "Yup!" Snapping his head to stare at his manager, he beamed, "And guess what?! Jin Sung was there!"

The manager wasn't getting it as he felt his eyebrow move, "The arrogant-looking one? I thought you already knew he was there."

Seeming to have understood the misunderstanding, Jun explained, "No, no, no, no, no. Of course I knew there was a Jinsung in the group. I just didn't know he was _the_ Lee Jin Sung."

Feeling nostalgia, he smiled, "He sure changed since the last time I've seen him. The last time I saw him, he was only a little pipsqueak who kept following Min Min around."

The manager finally knew what he was saying, "Oh! The one who you always bragged about on how you taught him boxing?" He faced his head towards him, "Wait. Didn't you drag him inside the agency?"

"Oh, you knew?"

Taesung deadpanned, "How could I not? He left a huge impression—asking the CEO how much he was going to be paid and all that jazz. I'm surprised _you_ didn't know.

"Besides, why were you even dragging him inside the building? It's not like you're a scouter—"

Catching on, he stared, hoping he didn't do what he thought he did, "You didn't pretend to be a scouter again, did you?"

Jun scratched his cheek, laughing, "Well..."

Taesung sighed, "What's up with your group? I knew Joon Young pretended to be a scout, but does everyone else scout as well?"

"Haha, how did you know?"

The manager almost hit him, "You've got to be kidding me." —Jun just laughed— "What kind of idol group scouts for their own agency?"

Taesung rubbed his temples, sighing.

Jun laughed at the sight before recalling what happened on that day.

* * *

 

**The day of the audition**

_Crap! I woke up late! Taesung is gonna get so pissed at me!_

Rummaging through his drawer, he tried to find his contacts.

_Where are they?!_

Under the fear and pressure of possibly getting punished, Jun gave up and walked outside of his building with sunglasses on.

His ride there, he hopped inside before dreading the day ahead of him.

_How am I gonna work without my contacts?_

Arriving at the agency, he calmed himself down. Mentally preparing himself, he walked out.

About to go in, he gets distracted by a male.

_Who's he?_

Forgetting about his manager, he quickly flips a switch, taking his sunglasses off and placing it on his collar.

_...even though I can't see him, I can feel his charisma._

Walking up to him, he wasn't expecting the guy to suddenly attack him, almost elbowing him.

"Woah there."

On guard, the male became defensive, "What do you want?"

His scouter persona flipped, "I just wanted to scout you since you seemed like you wanted to audition." Giving a slight pause, he continued, "Unless I was wrong?"

He smirked, but inside he was yelling:

_You better be thinking of becoming an idol, boy!_

Quite a while has passed, and the pompadour male still wasn't saying anything; he was merely staring at the ground, probably daydreaming about something good since he was giving this creepy-happy expression that was oozing with lovesickness.

Jun didn't know what to do.

_Is he going to join or not?_

Checking his watch, the only thing he could do was wait.

Four minutes had passed, Jun on his phone as this point.

Hearing the boy move, Jun figured he was done daydreaming.

The boy smirked, "How much are you willing to pay me?"

The older felt taken aback.

_Oh-ho. What an interesting character..._

Jun smirked back, "Sadly, I can't give you the price." Seeing him lose interest, he quickly added, "—However, you can bargain with the CEO..."

Feeling a shiver down his spine, he wondered if anyone heard him. Glancing around, he made sure no one knew he was there. Seeing some fans nearby, he tried to avert his eyes elsewhere.

It was too late. They noticed him.

"Hey, isn't that Jun?"

"Oh my gosh! It is!"

_Whoops._

Vaguely hearing what Jin Sung asked of him, he answered, "Practice."

"What?" Jin Sung blinked.

Jun smiled—trying not to seem suspicious—he didn't bother to make him less confused as he tried to cut things short, "I'll see you at the audition."

Right after telling him, Jun dashed inside the building:

_Frick. I sure hope Taesung doesn't find out about this..._

* * *

 

"...un...Jun...Jun!"

That snapped him out of his flashback.

He turned towards his manager, "Y-yes?"

The manager looked concerned, "Are you okay? We're here."

Staring at the idol's face, he couldn't help adding, "I know that after that incident, you haven't exactly—"

"I'm fine. There's no need to worry, Taesung." He faked a smile, knowing it would satisfy his manager to some degree.

Taesung furrowed his brows, "If you say so..."

They exit the car before they looked up at the building.

PTJ Entertainment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I was sick since Wednesday last week til Wednesday this week. I just got better... Well, I'm kind of doing this for school hours since writing helps with English and stuff. So, expect some chapters this week! This updating frenzy will probably stop by Sunday, though...
> 
> Thanks for the reviews ChickenStrp (aw, thank you for the compliments as always!), JaeYeolIsGayForTheBae (I love those kinds of readers tbh, they always give me great ideas. Thank you! I was actually planning on writing something like that!), Danismypatronus (thank you! Haha, I didn’t expect anyone to like that chapter as much as you do. If you’d like, I could write it a continuation at the end of a chapter), Bid G (thank you! It actually wasn’t a typo, but I bet it was confusing, huh. I’ll fix it when I can. Also, I agree; Jin Sung would do anything for love >~<), and buttfulmavinness (Jin Sung is polite to his seniors, unless they are delinquents of course. Hi lov, I’m also love. Haha, sorry. Please don’t mind me)!


	33. Kim Won Joon [3]

Walking inside of the building, Taesung felt the urge to ask the question that had been stuck in his mind, "Jun, do you have to be here?"

Jun was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he unknowingly blocked his manager's voice out of his mind.

Glancing over at him, the manager furrowed his eyebrows. He wasn't sure what was up with Jun, but he figured he'd start talking eventually.

Wanting to get the idol to talk with any means possible, he began a topic he knew the idol loved to talk about, "Aren't you going to your cousin's house later?"

There was no reaction. Taesung felt like the world was ending. How could he possibly not react to the mention of his favorite relative? Thinking of more things to say, he scratched his head.

Jun, not hearing a thing, spotted the receptionist. The moment his eyes locked with it, he fastened his pace.

Surprised by the sudden speed change, the manager followed with a slight trip in his steps.

His gaze on the back of Jun's head, he tried to keep up with him as his breath quickened a little, "Wait, slow down a little..."

Hearing no reply, his worry skyrocketed. If he wasn't going to answer, the only choice left was to wait for him to feel like replying.

The idol, distracted with the meeting in mind, didn't hear him as he practically gave no attention to his manager.

His thoughts centered around the reason he was there; he kept his head up high and placed a hand on the front desk.

The receptionist glanced at him as Jun confidently stated, "I'm here to meet LU."

The receptionist was too busy to realize who he was as she started typing something in the computer, "I'm sorry, sir, but LU doesn't accept any meet..."

After checking the meetings for LU on the computer, she saw the name, "Kim Won Joon."

Feeling like she missed something, she did a double take with a dumbfounded expression plastered on her face.

There, before her, was the very man, Jun from Back Bing. The idol. Even though she's working for PTJ, it didn't mean she couldn't be a fan of other company's idols. Not only that, but he happened to be someone she secretly fangirled over.

Embarrassed for the slight mistake, she quickly went to grab the phone to notify LU.

Not wanting to keep the idol waiting, she added,"U-uh, just a moment, sir!"

Trying to keep her composure, she heard the acceptance from LU before she ended the call.

Her eyes sparkled as she stared, "H-he's waiting in the same room as usual, sir."

Jun smiled at the lady while giving her a slight nod.

Not knowing what to do, the lady nodded back, flustered.

Taesung was about to go with him, but he got stopped by the lady, "Um! The gentleman next to him!"

He stopped walking and turned around to face the female, "Me?"

The receptionist nodded, "Yes, you, sir." Glancing at Jun, she tried to sound apologetic, "I'm sorry...but only authorized people can meet with LU."

Surprised, he was about to try and convince her to let him in, but Jun decided otherwise, "Taesung, I'm sorry, but could you wait here in the lobby for me? This meeting is kind of private."

The manager, feeling the need to stay with him, couldn't refuse him when he gave him such a serious and somewhat desperate expression.

He sighed before scratching his head in exasperation, "Fine, but make it quick."

Thankful, the idol grinned, "No longer than five minutes, right?"

* * *

 

Daydreaming, Jin Sung sat in class.

Being an idol, his classmates, along with other the department students, crowded around the Fashion Department. A third of the girls were there, while the other girls spread out to go meet the Architecture and Beauty departments.

Since Jang Hyeon's department is already full of girls, the girls there are preventing any other girl student from coming in. Jang Hyeon was their precious male student. For all they care, the girls can take Hyung Seok as long as they stayed away from Jang Hyeon.

Despite popular belief, Vasco and Bum Jae were quite popular even before they were idols. Now that they are famous, the hidden fans are more willing to reveal themselves.

Vasco felt happy while Bum Jae pretended he didn't care as he secretly liked the attention.

Hyung Seok and Jae Yeol sat in the corner as they talked amongst themselves, which was really just Hyung Seok talking and him somehow understanding Jae. The girls placed an arm over their eyes as they basked themselves in the beautiful sight.

While the two were being squealed over, the boxer continued to stare off into the distance.

He was daydreaming about someone other than Mi Jin—which is extremely rare for someone so lovestruck with someone.

He placed his chin on his hand as his elbow rested on the table; his stare starting to look more like a glare as he was lost in thought.

_That sunbae...where have I seen him before?_

Trying to remember where he's seen him, he didn't notice Mi Jin walking up to him during lunch.

"Jin Sung?"

Her voice breaking through his thoughts, he flinched as he got startled.

Realizing who it was, his face muscles automatically loosened up as he smiled, "Yes, Mi Jin?"

Worried, her lips went out a little, "Are you okay?"

Not quite expecting her to ask that, he blinked, "Me?"

She nodded, "You've been out of it since you've got here..."

He quickly dismissed that idea as he tried to make her not worry anymore, "I'm completely fine, Mi Jin! There's nothing to worry about!" He punched the air while jumping up and down, "See? My body is as good as ever!"

Believing him for now, she let him off before changing the subject, "Remember that time I told you that my cousin is coming over for dinner?"

Jin Sung froze as he wondered if she had ever said such a thing before.

He widened his eyes as he snapped his fingers, "Ah! The guy who wanted to meet me?"

"Yeah. He said he missed you, so he asked if you could come or not."

_Missed me...? Did I know her cousin?_

Ignoring that thought, he perked up, "Of course! I happen to be free tonight!"

Gleeful, she smiled as she clasped her hands together, "Really? That's great! Joon-oppa is going to be thrilled when he hears about this."

_"Joon-oppa."_

_"Joon."_

_"Jun."_

_...Jun?_

_"Now I can say that I was the reason you became an idol. Just wait til Min Min finds out about this!_

_"You really don't remember me? You weren't that young when I met you._

_"I went through puberty._

_"I'm sorry! I'm in a hurry! If you want to continue this conversation, get Min Min to arrange a meeting!!"_

Suddenly putting the pieces together, he shouted aloud, "Ah!"

Mi Jin flinched, "Jin Sung?"

_Of course! Only one person has ever called Mi Jin, "Min Min!"_

Facing towards her, he looked serious, "Does this cousin of yours call you Min Min?"

She nodded, "You remember Joon-oppa?"

Jin Sung felt like he was having a crisis.

_Jun-sunbae and Mi Jin's cousin are the same person?_

With him contemplating and crouching with his hands on his head, Mi Jin could only wonder what happened, "Jin Sung? Are you sure you're okay?"

* * *

 

"Kim Won Joon, long time no see." The LU smiled as he took his hand out.

Jun's expression becoming impassive, he asked, "Where are they?"

"Oh ho, going to ignore my handshake, are we?" He lowered his hand, "You sure got cocky since DY Entertainment finally managed to get their hands on a new boy group."

The idol frowned as his voice became more affirmative, "You got what you wanted, so tell me where they are."

Raising his eyebrow, LU's lips curled up, "Why, of course, they're in the  _special_ room."

His frown never leaving, he made his way towards the pathway to the said room.

"Ah-ah-ah..." Jun froze knowing that that meant he wasn't done talking.

"You can't get them quite yet. I know you guys are going to make a comeback once they're free, but don't you think that this was too easy, Jun- _sunbae_?"

He gritted his teeth as he caught on, "You bastard..."

LU narrowed his eyes, "Is that any way you should treat your kidnapper? I could be lying for all you know." He turned on his heel as he walked around the room.

Reaching the other side of the room where a seat stood, he sat on it. Now facing the idol's direction, he gave a sick and disgusting smile.

"If you keep up with this behavior, you won't know where your precious friends are."

Hands clenching and unclenching, Jun glared at the guy. Finding the strong will to find his friends, he held back his snarky response.

"What else do you want?"

The male gave him a disgusting grin, "I want you to get close with  _Lookism_."

He furrowed his eyebrows as he wondered where LU was going with this, "And?"

LU kept his disturbing grin on, "I'll tell you when you do." He spun a 360 on the chair before continuing, "So? Do you accept,  _sunbae_?"

The idol didn't know what he was planning, but he knew he had no other choice but to agree, "Fine, you sicko."

Turning around to leave, Jun went on his way to leave.

"Oh, and Kim Won Joon?"

He stops and turns his around to glare at the man.

" _What_?"

Crossing his legs and placing his chin on the back of his hand, the black-haired male grinned, "Make sure you make it quick. You don't want your comeback to get anymore delayed than it is already."

He grinded his teeth as he had no intention to reply. Glaring holes in the guy until he was satisfied, Jun turned his head back to the front and continued walking.

Once he left the room, his facial expressions softened before his eyes narrowed with sorrow.

Checking his watch, Taesung seemed to be counting before noticing Jun, "Oh, you're just on time, Jun."

Walking up to him, he noticed his lack of cheerfulness, "Jun?"

No response.

Feeling worried, once they got outside, Taesung placed a hand on Jun's shoulder, "Are you o-"

Jun lifted his head with a grin on his face, "Gotcha ya!" He laughed, "You should've seen your face, Taesung!"

The manager, pissed at such a prank, growled, "And to think that I was worried about you..." He sighed, "I'll go get the car."

Seeing his manager disappear to get the car, he took this chance to look at PTJ's building.

Biting his lip in worry, his heart dropped as he imagined what was going on in there.

Hearing his manager pull up, he glanced at the manager before taking one last long look at the building, "...please be okay, hyungs."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually posted this chapter on Wattpad three days ago, but I was too lazy to update ao3...sorry for the delayed update!
> 
> Thanks for the reviews Coralreef (oh I love "me like yuh" by Jay Park. It gives me ideas on what I could do with Bum Jae, haha. DB5K/TVXQ or Yunjae... It'll be a little hard to write for them since I kind of want to write current idols. I don't really know them either. Feel free to educate me in the discord! Maybe I'll end up writing about them.), Avery (adkfadfjl, sorry for the wait! Hopefully I'll update sooner!), Wolfii (thank you for understanding! I'm glad you enjoy it!), Deidara (thank you! I'm glad you can read this and think that way! Since you commented on the 3rd chapter, I don't know if you'll ever see this reply or if you still think this way...), and SatanicScrewup (haha, right? I find that rather amusing. You'll actually end up seeing that happen sooner or later. The members are in for a treat).


	34. Kim Woon Joon [4]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One curse word ahead! Gasp!

Arriving at his destination, Jun checked the time before knocking on the door.

"Joon-oppa!"

Seeing his favorite cousin, Jun felt his lips tingle before he went to hug her, "Min Min! It's been so long since I've seen you!" Lifting her off the ground, he spun before he placed her back down, "How's life?"

Mi Jin smiled, "I've been doing well! How have you been doing?"

Unprepared for this question, he flinched. It was supposed to be a light-hearted question, but he accidentally took it to heart.

Mi Jin couldn't help noticing the flinch as she observed Jun's features for a second.

He contemplated on what to say before saying, "It's the same old-same old. Where's Jin Sung?"

She was worried, but she didn't want to push him for answers, "He's in the restroom."

As if on cue, Jin Sung appeared, "Mi Jin, when is Ju..."

He spotted him in the corner of his eye. Before he could say anything, Jun hugged him.

"Jin Sung! How are you?! Do you remember me yet?"

His personal space being invaded, Jin Sung didn't know what to do except for awkwardly patting him on the back, "Y-yeah..."

The only female in the room smiled at their interactions before remembering what time it was.

"Oh, it's time to eat."

At the mention of food, Jun let go of him, "It is? We better start eating then."

After they had finished eating, Jun and Jin Sung said their thanks to Mi Jin.

They were going to chill for a while, but then Jin Sung's phone went off.

Knowing who called, he sighed before answering, "Hello?"

_"Jinsung! Where are you?! Your curfew is in thirty minutes!"_

Covering his ear, he sighed again, "I'll be there in twenty minutes. Don't worry, leader."

He could hear some grumbling on the other end before he heard another person talk in the background,  _"Eli...cut him some slack. He's meeting an old acquaintance right now, right?"_

After they talked it out, whoever calmed the leader down took over the phone,  _"Jinsung? Make sure you come in twenty minutes or else I don't what will happen to your boxing collection..."_

"Eh?! Not my Rocky posters!" Jin Sung panicked before shouting, "Wait! Wait! I'll be there!"

Seeing the time, Jin Sung got his stuff and waved at them before rushing to the front door, "Bye! Thanks for having me!"

About to let him go, Jun suddenly remembered a certain annoying person's voice:

_"I want you to get close with_ Lookism _."_

Gritting his teeth, his mood went from a 100 to a -10.

"Jun-oppa...?" Mi Jin placed a hand on his shoulder.

Clearing his mind, he breathed in and out before smiling, "Yes, Min Min?"

Seeing him go back to normal, she ignored it, "Oh, it's nothing..."

Jin Sung saw this happen and felt like he shouldn't leave just yet as he awkwardly stayed silent.

Since Jin Sung was still there, Jun took this chance to make a move, "How have the rest of Lookism been?"

"They're okay. Why?" Thinking Jun was fine now, he sat down to put his shoes on.

"I was wondering if we could hang out sometime. You and the rest of your members."

Halting his actions, he raised an eyebrow, "...hang out?"

Surprised by that offer, he didn't realize he was wasting his precious time.

Snapping out of it, he opened the door and quickly stated, "I'm sorry, but I'm in a rush, hyung—"

Running outside, he suddenly felt the urge to shout, "I'll text you my response later, hyung!"

As he ran towards the dorm's direction, he dramatically cried as he imaged Rocky smiling at him. 

_Wait for me, Rocky...!_

* * *

 

Opening the door to his dorm, he huffed as he collapsed on the ground, "Wa...wait. Not...not my Rocky collection...!"

Jang Hyeon stood in front of the door with his arms crossed, "Rocky collection? Did we say we were going to ruin it or something?"

Jin Sung looked perplexed as he tried to catch his breath.

"So...so you're not going to...?"

"All we agreed on was that you will be here in twenty minutes, right? I don't remember telling you that we'll burn it." Tapping his chin, he continued, "But that is smart. Maybe I should do that too."

Confused, he tried to remember the other voice in the call. The fuzzy memory suddenly became clear.

"Eh...? Hyungseok?"

Hearing his name be called out, Hyung Seok came into view with an apologetic expression, "Sorry, Jinsung! I didn't want the leader to kill you, so I asked Jace on what I should say to motivate you; he told me to say that..."

_Jace...?_

Now he looked even more confused,  _Was he always this cruel...?_

Bum Jae walked in to get something.

He saw Jin Sung on the ground and immediately understood the situation, "Oh, you actually believed that?"

He grabbed his stuff and left.

The three never knew Bum Jae could be like that as they thought,  _...scary._

* * *

 

Once everyone was getting ready in the morning, Jin Sung suddenly felt like he was forgetting something.

"Oh!"

Everyone looked at him before one of them asked, "What is it, Jinsung?"

Since everyone was already there, he gathered them around.

"Jun-sunbae wants to hang out with us?!"

He nodded.

"Eh? Why?!"

Jin Sung couldn't give them a reason, "I don't know. Maybe it's because I know him?"

They seemed to be satisfied with that answer as they recalled him being oddly happy about the fact that he now had juniors in the company.

"Do you know when?" Hyung Seok asked.

He shook his head, "I didn't even give him an answer yet."

They gave him a look that made him immediately grab his phone and send a reply.

"Since when did you have his number?" Curious Vasco peeked over Jin Sung's shoulder.

"Min Min gave it to me."

"..."

Not able to handle the silence, he asked, "What?"

"Who's Min Min?"

Replaying his words, he caught his mistake,  _Oh fuck._

In the past, Jin Sung had the tendency to copy whatever Jun did. Since it's been a while, even the slightest thing made him copy it.

He mentally slapped himself before replying, "I meant to say Mi Jin."

Everyone shook it off as a slip as they continued to talk about Jun.

Feeling his phone buzz, Jin Sung checked the message:

_That's great! Instead of hanging out, do you want to be a guest on this variety show I'll be emceeing at? I realized that I won't have time to hang out TT TT and then I remembered that they said I could recommend them a group to invite! We can even hang out a little after it too! So, how about it?_

The rest of  _Lookism_  looked at the message and froze.

_...What_ _?_ _!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are there still people reading this...? I feel bad for not updating often enough. When it's summer break, I plan on spamming you guys with updates, so hopefully you guys are still here...! Do you guys know what variety show it is? Take a guess (*cough* starts with Hello *cough*).  
> Prepare for a long chapter. If you want to leave a concern for the variety show, type away! Not you're unsatisfied with the show kind of concern; I mean, like, a concern I can put in my chapter, if you understand what I'm saying (because it's that kind of show). If you're confused just say so...  
> Anyway, how's your day? I feel like talking, so anyone who answers this question will get a response from me—which isn't much haha.
> 
> Thank you for the review, sappygirl! I'm glad you think that way. I kind of thought the sudden twist was a bit much. Don't worry! I'll make sure to add more Jaeseok moments!


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